Transparency

There is one thing I will never outgrow...no matter my age, the weight of my responsibilities, or my maturity...when I am overwhelmed/sad/sick, I just want my mom. Pure and simple - nothing else will do when it's my Mom that is needed. She is wise and compassionate, reasonable and helpful, resourceful and always ready for a party. She is generous - especially when it comes to giving of herself.  She knows me - the real, big-picture me - like no one else. And I'm {finally} understanding the significance of that, being a mother myself, and knowing my boys as I do.

Over Christmas break, Mom was needed. Nothing particularly terrible was going on - just many overwhelming moments.  Let me be perfectly transparent here - I can put on a pretty good show of patience, gentleness and motherly wisdom but, without Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, I am a fire-breathing dragon. Smoke curls out of my nostrils. Accommodating all 4 boys at home all day, stuck inside due to the cold, stuck at home due to sickness, constant discipline, whining/arguing/fighting...aaaaahhhh! I was at the end of myself and I prayed, "LORD, please help me! I need help." 

The phone rings. It's my mom and she offers to take Mason, Smith, and Sawyer {and Blake} for four days. Four. whole. days. And just like that, God answered my prayer and sent my Mama swooping in to help me. Again.

While Matt, Gunner and I enjoyed simple, restful days, my mom and the cousins {and sometimes my dad},

• had a bonfire
• played outside
• visited the water park
• soaked in the hot tub
• built block castles
• snapped silly photos of one another
• read stories
• "worked" in Papa's shop
• rode the four-wheeler

And on and on - they had loads of fun. See for yourself:

  

Most of the photos were taken by the boys. Mom gave them her old camera to snap photos. 

And when I drove to Billings to bring the monkeys home, I was ready to take the helm as primary caregiver again. My "time-out" had served its purpose. And my mom was ready to NOT be primary caregiver :) .

Mom, thanks for swooping in to save the day...and for rescuing my children from the fire-breathing dragon! Thanks for being awesome. You are loved.