The Days Are Long

The days are long.

Lately, this is the part of the familiar saying that stands out to me the most.

In the busyness of the past few weeks, I have barely been able to catch my breath most days.

Last night I left a load of laundry downstairs in the washer because I couldn’t muster the motivation to go down and deal with it. Which ended up being not so bad since my baby woke up this morning with a diaper blowout. Add dirty sheets, blankets, pajamas, and sleeping lovie to the load and rewash. Then wash the baby in the bathtub. Throw in the toddler for good measure. Make a mental note to wash the bathtub later. Promptly forget.

The rest of the week was full too. Our moms group started back this week. We had prayer night at church. Meals were taken to loved ones in a new house and to friends with a new baby. My husband had a meeting at church one evening and then a meeting with his fly fishing group the next. The baby got her first two teeth in and  has been learning to crawl everywhere. Little sleep plus added vigilance. Not exactly going together like a horse and carriage. And, our dishwasher was broken for over a week which meant LOTS of extra time washing dishes.

Do your days seem like this sometimes?

There is so much that is the same day in and day out. So much that needs to be done.

If your days tend to run together; if people comment every time you leave the house that “your hands are full”; and if at the end of the day you feel like you’ve given just about all you have to give, then you probably need to hear the same reminder that I do.

The days are long. But they are IMPORTANT.

And this can be taken for granted. Especially by myself.

But tired mom with your hands full, don’t take it for granted. Don’t overlook the importance of a.l.l. the daily stuff.

It matters.

This next Tuesday that will look just like the Tuesday before it and the one before that? It matters.

Making another meal and cleaning up the kitchen another time. It matters.

Listening to the same story for the eighty-billionth time today. It matters.

Being doctored, rescued, and beautified by sticky little hands. It matters.

Stain sticking and washing and remembering the dryer sheet over and over. It matters.

Obliging with two extra songs as you tuck your child into bed. It matters.

Questions answered and correction given. It matters.

The prayers and the Bible stories and the gospel conversations. THEY MATTER.

The dishes and the laundry and the diapers and the storytime and the cleaning and the snuggles and the fort-building and the time-outs and the baths before bedtime. Each is a stone being laid in a foundation of love and instruction upon which your children will build the rest of their lives.

Your children will likely not remember every little thing that filled their days. These moments will blend together in the colorful blurs of childhood. But they will remember a mother with a heart of love.

What you do matters.

“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”
Galatians 6:9

“The foundations that were laid in my children’s lives, little by little, have given them the ability now to reach for the sky.”
Sally Clarkson