The Fruit of Parenting

A VERY wise and beautiful mother sent this to me last night. She said she needed it and figured I did too....I bet A LOT of us do.
In the grand-scheme of things after the kids are raised and you look back, what is left, is you. Gloriously flawed,smarter, stronger you.

My kiddo's are hard, but if I looked at my life from a far, I would see...I laugh, almost as much a I cry. I PRAY more. I seek strong, honest , trustworthy people as friends. Life becomes way more about quality not quantity. More about good, healthy moments than the "things". What a life lesson.

So today is "ODE" to what I have learned from my kids. The gifts parenting a large family, dealing with a menagerie of strengths and weaknesses on an individual basis, and the pearls of wisdom, the strength, empathy and gifts they give me, by letting me, Lindsay, this totally messed up person whom has her own junk to figure out, be their MAMA!

What I have learned from my kids:

* Life is preparatory, right now may be the hardest it might ever get, but be prepared it may get even HARD-ER.

* If it is yellow, it is probably pee.

* Hard isn't BAD, it's just HARD.

* 7 different versions of "what happened", may not always help you figure out the truth.

*Make the Good moments count.

* Be who you are at home, in Costco, at church, cause, the real you is who you are the most.

*God makes up the half you don't.

*Pull-ups should never be washed and dried, EVER.

* Healing is universal, there is no time limit, wounds can be reopened in a NANO-SECOND. HANDLE WITH CARE.

* Dancing whenever, however you are dressed (or not dressed) when you hear a beat, always can put a smile on your face.

* The people who don't approve or support you, were never worth it anyway.

* Assume any time a five year old has "washed their hands" soap is optional.

* No matter , how big, little, flawed, gifted, rich poor, undamaged, or damaged...assume we are all just people, doing the best we can....because we all have been damaged.

WHAT A GIFT my children are to me. The life lessons they teach me can not be learned in the greatest of universities, they are my pearls of wisdom, particularly crafted for me by my Father in Heaven.JUST. for. me.
I just have to listen well, endure long enough, and allow patience to rule my heart,for me to learn them.

Mama's:
Promise me you will Always remember; You are Braver than you Believe,Stronger than you Seem and Smarter than you Think.

~Christopher Robin to Pooh