Moments that take our breaths away...

You know those days as a mom... those days that don't seem to end, when you feel guilty looking so forward to bedtime when you finally get a moment to breathe. Those days when you pray continually for strength yet you are just plain exhausted from tending to everyone's needs, trying with all of your might to do it all and do it all well. I know what you are thinking... that would be every day in my house. Yes! Mine too! The moment my feet hit the floor in the morning it's go time. I immediately jump into feeding the baby, then getting breakfast for the other four, change diapers, then clean up the kitchen, get everyone dressed, then make beds, get the baby down for a nap, get the school lessons going for the older 2 while still trying to spend time with the middle two, then... then... then...

In the midst of juggling it all we tend to just go through the motions, just moving from task to task, trying to keep all the balls in the air. But it's the moment that you stop and take a breathe, step back and just be the audience to your children as they get lost in dancing to a song or reading a book to a younger sibling or listening to their conversations in their make believe play that actually take your breath away. You see God has incredible gifts for us throughout our days, throughout our very mundane days. When I am aware of those gift, those blessings that He created just to put a smile on my face, those moments reveal to me how incredibly much God must love me and how real He really is.  I watch my children in awe sometimes, in awe of the amount of love I actually have for these 5 little people. Gods love for me doesn't even scratch the surface of the love that I have for my babies. And then the fact that He chose me for these 5 precious children just blows my mind sometimes. I feel so inadequate for this intimidating job of raising 5 humans, to teach them, to feed them a bazillion meals, and then ultimately lead them to the One who made them. Yet He trusted me. He gifted them... to me.

I had a moment like that today. Well I know I have moments like this everyday, several times really, but I'm not always able to recognize it.  My husband happens to be gone for a few days and honestly I usually dread the days when he is gone. I may throw a little pity party for myself and pretty much realize that I'm just going to make it through. I'm definitely not going to make any extra effort for anything great. Awesome right? Today I told the girls we needed to have some clean up time, but we would listen to some fun music while we cleaned. When we finally finished, a song that the big girls have been learning a dance to in choir came on. They immediately started performing their dance for me. I was holding Lynlee on my hip, Landon started dancing right along with them and Avery was singing the very sweet lyrics as she sat next to me.  That was the moment! I just sat there and watched them, listening to the words coming out of their mouths, watching my two year old making silly dance moves, holding my sweet 5 month old with her sweet soft cheek right next to my own, and then my 4 year old snuggled up next to me singing those same words. Tears began trickling down my face. Here I was, barking orders, sticking to our ever present schedule, but when I finally stopped  I just got to soak in the  true joy and gift of motherhood. The blessing of spending my days, every day with my children is just something I truly feel thankful for. In that moment God reminded me to stop and enjoy, because the days are fleeting.

Being a mom is tough work, whether you have one or ten. It's hard! But what if we approached our days with our little ones as gifts, if we purposely were looking for those moments in our days where God whispers to us "I created this for you". You will be blessed, your marraige will be blessed, your children will be blessed, your home will be blessed simply by you being sensitive to God's little gifts. Not that you won't have long days, because we know a mom's job never ends. But those little moments are what keep us going. Those moments put smiles on our faces and tears in our eyes, but  most importantly allow us to  recognize the presence of the One true God, who made you...who created you for a purpose.

2 Chronicles 16:9
"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."
I do want to live fully committed to Him, in every aspect of my day!

Here are just a few recent pictures of my crew that just make me smile. These pictures are nothing fancy, just moments throughout my days that make me step back for a moment and be thankful for the chaos!

He loves when he wears pants with pockets.

This was on my birthday, which was a pretty great family day.

 My boys. This picture just makes me smile.

 Aww, my love with my baby. Not much better than this!

Avery was so proud of herself when she learned to write her name! Big girl!

These two are the best of friends and their friendship makes me smile. They were very proud of this lego restaurant they made. 

I love when I walk in a room and I find two of my kids like this. 

This boy...

All four looking at one magazine together! Seriously?!? Just a sweet moment.

Oh I am crazy for the toothless grins. My baby girl... she is a treasure.

This was on Avery's birthday just after I finished putting her jamberry nails on. She was so excited!

A moment with just him and I reading together. Love spending time with him!

 More of those smiles!

Oh these three. This particular Sunday I was supposed to be cleaning the kitchen up, but instead decided to come spend time with them outside and I got to be part of a cheering crowd for a few incredible races between these three. 

My oldest sweet girl. She loves loves to dress up, and I love that at seven years old she still comes up with funny costumes. I love that I get to spend my days with her, hearing from her heart and watching her grow and learn.