Memorial Day

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." ~Ronald Reagan


I saw this quote on one of my friend's fb page this past week. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it to be true. In the day that we live in we seem to be rapidly losing more and more of the freedoms our Grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents fought, sacrificed and died for. Some of these freedoms have been, unfortunatly, given up without a fight, others are in a sense being taken from us. There is an ache in my heart as I think of what our country will be like when my young children are adults. Will they enjoy the same freedoms I did as a child? My children live in a much different world than I did and I'm not that old. What kind of America will my grand-children grow-up in?

I know the road we are on now as a country did not happen overnight, it's been a gradual "decline" if you want to call it that. Starting with giving-up "little" freedoms and now it seems to be escalating at an alarming rate!
I know the world we are living in is growing darker, and that make me so much more thankful to have Jesus to cling to. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know Who holds my tomorrow!!

I kind of got off on a tangent, so to come back to what I really wanted to post... :)

THANK YOU!!! Thank you to the men and women, past and present, who have fought, died, sacrificed, served and still are serving our country!! Thank you....those words don't seem to be enough!!!

I have grandparents who served in World War II. A dear friend who's husband has been deployed 3 times since the start of the Iraq War, and may other friends who have served or still are serving in our country's armed forces!

Thank you!!! Today I am remembering you and the sacrifices you have made, you are not forgotten today!!

Happy Mother's Day

I realize I've neglected my blog once again. However, being a mom of 4 keeps me very busy without the kids being sick or without any added craziness, which seems to be the story of my life lately. :)

Anyway, this being Mother's Day I wanted to post and email a friend sent me about 2 years ago. It was very timely, because I was going through some struggles being a mom, and this just brought perspective and encouragement to my heart!

I think being a mom is probably one of THE hardest jobs anyone could ever have, but it is also one of the most amazing and rewarding jobs!

So with these short reflections which I hope made some sense (long busy weekend = me very tired right now) I'll leave you with the email I received. We are all in different places as mom's because our children are at different ages and places themselves, but the general message of this email is what really impacted me!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I'm Invisible

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the

lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while

I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.


Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the

phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking,

or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner,

because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.


Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:

Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?


Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a

human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'

I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the

Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30 , please.'


I was certain that these were the hands that once

held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that

graduated summa cum laude - but now they had

disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's

going, she's going, she's gone!


One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of

a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous

trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was

sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It

was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my

out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could

find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and

I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling

pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped

package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great

cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I

read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the

greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'



In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the

book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing

truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record
of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.


A legendary story in the book told of a rich man

who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a

workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and

asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird

into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'


I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall

into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering

to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day,

even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no

sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to

notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't

see right now what it will become.'


At times, my invisibility feels like an

affliction . But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the

cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to

my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see

myself as a great builder. As one of the people

who show up at a job that they will never see

finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The

writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be

built in our lifetime , because there are so few people willing to

sacrifice to that degree.


When I really think about it, I don't want my son

to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for

Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade

pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all

the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.

I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there

is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it

there.'


As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We

cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very

possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at

the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of

invisible women.



Great Job, MOM!



Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know

.... I just did.