"Hey, this was just like us!"
"Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb his generous legacy?" Psalm 127:3 MSG
If you would rather listen, I have recorded this post for you!
“Hey, this was just like us!” a smiling man at Costco called to us from across the aisle.
My little family has hit the size that when we are out in public we can, sometimes, get stopped by people who think we have a lot of kids.
I know, you mamas with more are rolling your eyes! But it’s true.
Sometimes this is terrifying depending on what argument I’m trying to subdue in the moment or how loudly someone has just asked me to buy something (any of you have older kids who do this on purpose now just to stress you out? Yeah, me too).
I looked up at this man and I could see something in his eyes that I don’t usually see in the eyes of the “whoa, are these all yours?” commentators. It was something like nostalgia, joy, sentiment and encouragement.
“You guys are just like we were! We even had three boys and two girls! I just love it! Every time people saw us out when our kids were young and took the time to tell us that kids are great we stood a little taller! I just can’t go by a large family and not say anything.”
We chatted for a few moments and found out that they were now proud grandparents and soaking up this stage of life.
The kids suddenly seemed a little calmer. It was a wonderful thing to be part of our family. A smiling stranger in Costco told us it was good. And they believed him
.
Proverbs 16:24 NLT
“Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”
Driving home through the snow I smiled to myself. A vision of my husband stopping large families in the future, giving them a pep talk and watching them stand a little taller too, appeared in my mind. He’ll have teary eyes remembering our crazy times trying to squeeze everyone and the groceries into the van, and boast about his grandchildren that have come.
Anointed mothers continually remind themselves that children are a blessing, a heritage, a love gift. And sometimes God sends someone else to remind us too.
Lord, I thank you for every child represented by their mothers reading this. They are gifts from your hand. Remind us every single day that our roles as mothers are good and perfect gifts from you. May our children know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we treasure them, regardless of the bumps that take place during the day. In Jesus’ Name. Amen