Supermom does NOT live here

We were sitting at our table, enjoying the wedding reception, when I noticed that everyone standing by the food tables were turned staring towards the back of the yard where the reception was being held.  As I slowly turned to my total and complete embarrassment I see my son carrying over his shoulders a six foot long palm branch across the lawn.  He looked like a warrior who had just killed a lion with his bare hands! He strutted his little stuff so very proudly!  Every eye was on him, probably wondering who this little warrior belonged to. 

People tend to think that just because someone has many children that somehow we have everything all together.  Let me just set that silly notion straight….Um, no.  My children are not perfect, my house is not spotless and I’m not ultra organized, and I’m not perfectly patient.  I’m not saying that there aren’t moms of many out there who are these things, but I am saying that just because someone has many kids doesn’t mean they have “arrived” at conquering these things. 

With every child the Lord has blessed us with He has definitely worked more of these things into our lives.  The Lord uses parenting to weed many things out of a persons life….selfishness, disorganization, pride, (note above story!) anger, lack of self control, and the list goes on and on.  Just because I have ten children doesn’t mean I have conquered any of these things, it means I really must have a lot of these things in my life and God in His sovereignty knows I need lots of practice laying these things down at his feet.

I was talking with a good friend the other day who has 7 children and we were laughing about some of these very misconceptions that other moms have of us moms of many. (Of course this friend really is super mom! Really!!) We have many more opportunities than a mom of two or three to be humbled, (again note above story) to practice patience, to clean the same mess again, to practice organization in our home, (it really is a necessity with a houseful!) and many more chances to cling to the hem of His garment and be covered by His grace! It’s really all about His grace!

I am blessed beyond measure that the Lord keeps me on a very short leash.  Having a full quiver helps do that. It keeps me on my knees and relying not on myself but on my Lord. I don’t have a spotless home but I have lots of laughter and small (and large!) faces to kiss on.  I am daily presented with chances to practice patience, self control, to die to myself, and to lean on the Lord.  It’s a daily refining and I love it!

Back to my little warrior story….With all eyes on the Warrior, his very humbled parents called him over to explain why he couldn’t carry his conquered palm branch thru the reception and that he must put it back from where he found it.  The Lord gave us another chance to practice parenting not based on what others think but rather parent on what was going on in the Warrior’s heart, which was only childish innocence. I really wish I would catch on to this soon so the Lord would quit giving me opportunities to practice!