LeeAnn G Taylor - Embracing the Mosaic Life

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Surprised by Motherhood

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She hops off the chair at dinner, captivated by the song that blares loudly from my favorite Pandora station.

Let Your Word move in power
Let what’s dead come to life
We are here for You
We are here for You

To You our hearts are open
Nothing here is hidden
You are our one desire
You alone are holy
Only You are worthy
God, let Your fire fall down.

It is beautiful, her unrestrained joy, the worship of her little 4 year old heart, belting out “we welcome You with praise, Almighty God of love, be welcome in this place,” and I can’t contain the tears spilling from my grateful heart.

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And I’m reminded, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful, this thing called motherhood. 

The floor is a sticky mess of orange juice droplets mixed with the yogurt tube the toddler squeezed onto the floor. The washing machine, an older model that I’m just happy is still cleaning clothes, knocks loudly in the middle of my 1950s designed kitchen. Dinner is tortellini from a package with jarred sauce on half price sale at Harris Teeter last week and a package of frozen broccoli. There’s clean laundry in a basket on the floor begging to be folded and dishes piled in the sink.

But instead of feeling overwhelmed, I choose instead to be grateful.

Grateful for the boy and the girl, the little lives growing in my house, under my roof, in my care. They’re little but are big blessings from God and He’s chosen me to be their mother. I don’t take the privilege or the responsibility lightly, and instead seek after God.

I’m learning not to try for perfection but instead I’m showing up, trusting Him, and expressing gratitude for the blessings, both big and small. For in reality, it’s He who is mighty and I’m resting in that today.

I’m working my way through Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts and the theology of gratitude is rocking my world. 

And can I tell you that I’m am over-the-moon excited about Lisa-Jo Baker’s book Surprised by Motherhood: Everything I Never Expected About Being a Mom that comes out in 5 days. You can pre-order it now, read the first 3 chapters for free, and pick it up at any bookstore after April 1st. 

*This post is part of Lisa-Jo Baker’s 5 Minute Friday series, where she empowers bloggers to write for 5 minutes each Friday on a specific topic. Free writing. Writing just for the sheer joy of it. Today’s topic was “Mighty“. This post contains affiliate links {full disclosure}. Also sharing with Welcome Party Wednesday. 

Comments

    • LeeAnn G. Taylor says

      Oh yes. And a shout out goes to my dear sweet husband who is a kitchen ninja and does the mopping. Godly husbands are a blessing and I bet you have one of those too!

  2. Holly Barrett says

    Your sweet littles are so blessed to have you as their mother! You are a mighty mama and are doing a fabulous job. Much love!

  3. Meredith Bernard says

    Amen. He’s mighty. We are not. Ever (well speaking to me, here. 😉 I also have a knocking washing machine in a closet in my child’s bedroom that also has a gun safe in it. Feel better? You should. 😉 Love your words and your new site. <3

  4. Krista says

    Choosing to be grateful. Yup, got to work on that! I’m thinking I need to take my copy of Ann’s book on vacation next week and try to get through it (I have a hard time with her writing style so I need space and quiet to read it).

    I have a kitchen ninja too, he does the dishes, for which I am VERY grateful!

    • LeeAnn G. Taylor says

      I struggled a bit with the writing style too. I’m normally a fast reader and this one took me all month to get through. It didn’t help that I was writing down quotes from almost every page though!

  5. Chandra Hadfield says

    I love that I’m not the only mom who served packaged tortellini with half priced jarred sauce this week. And, that song. Oh, it reaches deep. This is what touched me most “I’m learning not to try for perfection but instead I’m showing up, trusting Him, and expressing gratitude for the blessings, both big and small.” Because, I’m learning this, too.

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