A Gracefull Place

My husband was looking at the weather this morning on the internet and clicked on something which brought up a video on some extreme sports (I guess that’s what they called them!)  There was this guy who was trying to climb an arch in the middle of some sea, and one handhold he had to jump to reach it.  He fell into the sea below several times, then he got it–I mean, how can you catch a handhold and hang on while swinging from the momentum?!

 

Then it was mountain bikers.   Talking about breaking wrists, losing teeth, separated shoulders (OUCH!) from their crashes.  You know these guys (well, and girls)–they go down a mountain at the speed of light and flip their bike upside down then land on a tire and keep going.  Sometimes they land and smash!   That’s when they do the teeth/wrists/shoulders thing.   I wonder how they’ll feel in 40 years?! 

 

I decided that I, too, am a part of an extreme sport.  Sorry guys, this one is only for the ladies.  I birthed 10 children.  I actually went through 22 pregnancies. 12 of which miscarried and 1 was a stillborn.   9 regular births and 1 c-section.  Yep.  Done it all! 

 

Not only that, I breastfed them, too.  Some longer than others.  Now, that’s usually a pretty easy, natural thing.   But we’ve made it so complicated.  Do we schedule?  If so, how far apart?  If we demand feed, how do we go to the bathroom?   Do I get them sleeping through the night?  Or do I co-sleep?  My word, you can make a new mommy’s heart faint with terror with all that!   It took me about 7 children to start relaxing and enjoying them and learning the rhythms of life (I like calling it "responsive feeding").   And then I had to field the "Are they sleeping through the night yet?" questions.   I don’t remember anyone asking me that much until around baby #4.   What changed?   I don’t know, but  I went the other way.  I decided to be a part of the Extreme Team.

 

You never heard of it?  Well, that’s the mommy team that does what is best for their children and husband and family!   Not only that, but she dares go against the PC flow and pour herself out for her children.  Now, daddies can get it on the sport here.  It’s just the birthing and breastfeeding that they have to forego!    

 

So here I am, involved it the extreme sport of a lifetime–being a mother.  Not just a mother, but Mommy.  I figure it takes a lot of guts and sweat and tears to get your 21, 19, 16 and 14 year old daughters to call you Mommy.   And they do!   It takes a lot of grit to raise them to be feminine.  And they are!

 

More than that, it takes a lot of love poured out like Jesus poured out for me for them to see Him in my imperfect imitation of Him, and to love Him and live for Him.  And they do!

 

I highly doubt anyone will be featuring me on a short video about mothering, but something the arch-over-the-sea-climber said resounds with me:  "Sometimes you just keep trying and trying, and when you least expect it, you get it."  (Not a verbatim quote!)    Well, it’s that way with parenting, too!  And although these people do their sport for the adrenaline rush and will probably have some achey bones in the future, I do it for the long-term reward of my children, sons- and daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and more arising up and calling me blessed!  And to have them all with me someday in Heaven.   Yeah, I might get some achey bones, too, but my rewards won’t be some dusty trophies sitting in a closet (or a barn)!

 

So, if you’re a mommy loving your children, doing what you feel is best for them, especially if you’re going against the popular flow–welcome to:

 

The Extreme Mommy Team!

Now go give yourself a pat on the back and have some chocolate!

 

Trisch

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 12:19 pm and is filed under Being a MommyDear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.