Beauty in the Chaos

Thank you so much for all the sweet responses to my post yesterday. It really does help to be known in the midst of all that is going on this week. I even had a special friend show up at my door with ingredients, come into my kitchen, and make soup for my family. It is the perfect meal for the issues we have going on, sore throats, oral surgery today, and sore mouth from braces. Thank you, Andrea. You always bless me so much!!

I took this picture yesterday in my kitchen. Do you see what I see? My island is a disaster, but in the midst of that chaos are some beautiful flowers. It felt very symbolic to me. That is pretty much how my life is and the lives of most moms. It is messy, it is cluttered and overwhelming, but if you can look past all of that, there is a beauty that is beyond explanation in this calling. I am choosing to embrace that beauty and thanking God for that reminder today. That doesn't mean that I will never have a venting post again. They are good, they are necessary, and they are healing. My prayer is that even in the ranting and raving over my frustrations that God will always bring me back to the beauty.
I read this quote yesterday and it totally resonated with what I was feeling. It is from the book "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist. In reference to celebrating being a mom, she says,

...it's about looking through our lives and recognizing the act of mothering everywhere we see it, and more than that, recognizing that when any of us mother - when we listen, nurture, nourish, protect, - we're doing sacred work.

On another positive note, the "little metal marble that could" made its reappearance yesterday. I only had to do 4 excavations to get it. It wasn't quite as shiny as it used to be. Who knows what kind of adventures that little guy experienced. Sam is just relieved that he doesn't have to take his "hat" to school an dig through his poop on his own in the kids' bathroom. I am glad I don't have to write that note to explain it all to his teacher.

There is always something to be thankful for!!

Hoping you each see the beauty in your day!