A few quotes and thoughts...

Did you think I was gone forever? Take heart.  I was just enjoying the company of my mother in law and watching her chase Benjamin all around creation.  I'm trying to learn to not miss these days, or moments.  This post could be meaningful, but it's not Monday -- so it's a few quotes {and then my thoughts} for you to enjoy on motherhood!

“Mothers are always on call, expected to have all the answers and limitless energies. They’re supposed to do everything; it’s taken for granted. How can you be and do everything expected of you? What you need is a habitual sense of the presence of God. Think that Almighty God, who created the stars and keeps the seasons revolving in perfect rhythm, is there in your kitchen, in your bathroom, in the laundry room, in the grocery store. Mothers, be prepared for an arduous struggle. Your calling is impossible without prayer, the comfort and instruction of the Scriptures and fellowship in your church.”

~Elisabeth Elliot

**What a true statement!  Without the power of the Lord, without His strength or joy or love -- being a momma is impossible!  I'm ever grateful for the bounty of grace extended to me and the treasure of being known and cared for by the Almighty One!  And I've never known this truer than since becoming a mother.**

"I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother; neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the young heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring. A man with a soul so dead as not to be moved by the sacred name of "mother" is creation's blot. Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother. Certainly I have not the powers of speech with which to set forth my valuation of the choice blessing which the Lord bestowed on me in making me the son of one who prayed for me, and prayed with me. How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come? I thought her lips right eloquent; others might not think so, but they certainly were eloquent to me. How can I ever forget when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about my neck, prayed, "Oh, that my son might live before Thee!" Nor can her frown be effaced from my memory—that solemn, loving frown, when she rebuked my budding iniquities; and her smiles have never faded from my recollections— the beaming of her countenance when she rejoiced to see some good thing in me towards the Lord God of Israel."

~Charles Spurgeon, as quoted in Charles Haddon Spurgeon Autobiography: The Early Years 1834-1860 Volume 1

**It may be tiresome, these tiny years, but my heart takes rest and hope in the fact that the Lord is using me in ways much bigger than I can comprehend.  The joy of all joys would be to know my children live in complete desire and surrender of the Lord.  I pray earnestly that they will bow before the throne of grace with humility and joy.  And I deeply desire for God to do whatever He can, despite myself, to bring Himself glory.  I may never really know what my boys look back and think of our years together -- so intimate, so short, so influential, so enduring -- but I know that I'm doing all I can through the power of the cross and through the grace of God.  That's a sweet place to be, even on overwhelming days! 

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!" -Psalm 115:1