Okay. I love this lady. I want to be like her when I grow up! She's funny. She's witty. She puts on no pretense. She's authentic. She's vulnerable. She's encouraging. And she is super cool.
I like what she is NOT even better.
She is NOT holier than thou. She does NOT admit to having it all together. She is NOT afraid to share when she is struggling. And she does NOT fake her walk with the Lord.
I wish we could be friends. I wish I could go over to her house for coffee and just glean from her. I wish she could come to our Monday morning Mommy times and share with us all of the things that she has learned from walking this journey and being down the road a little farther than us. But alas, it is not meant to be. Instead, I'll just have to read her blog every day and pretend that we're fabulous friends and tell everyone else about her!
Anyway, one of her posts that she had written quite awhile ago has always stuck with me, and I was reminded of it again when I had the privilege of watching a dear friend's three month old baby today. This baby was a little doll today - nearly perfect. There were only three somewhat intense moments of her crying pretty hard and me learning how she needed to be soothed. But, Mister Man, those few minutes took me smack dab back into what my life was like nineteen months ago when My Little Screamer entered my world. The first six months of this little guy's life are months that I will be happy to not have to repeat. They were intense. Many tears all around!
That's the jist of this post and the reason why I love it so much. It's all about remembering.
Remembering the super intense moments that take place all throughout the various stages of childrearing. And then, not only remembering these moments but also empathizing with our friends as we see them walk down those same roads with their babies.
Empathizing is far different than sharing unsolicited advice. Empathizing is different than joking about how it can only get worse! Empathizing is different than patronizing. Empathizing is coming alongside our sisters and walking the road with them. It's loving and accepting no matter what. It's not judging. It's bearing their burdens with them. I am blessed to have friends who do that for me. And it's what Christ does with all of us on a daily basis!
Anyway, read this post. It rocks. This is how I want to be encouraged by other moms. And this is how I want to be an encouragement to them.
5 comments:
Awesome post Ame. As always. Yes, I do hope that I always remember, and never make another mom feel like they don't have it as hard as I do.
oh by the way, THANK YOU so much for today. Kirsten has had an awesome evening.
I think I've spent an hour in bits and pieces today reading through this woman's blog. It is so great! Some awesome practical ideas too about cooking, organizing for kids and making work around the house fun with them. I also found her link to this woman (http://perennialwonder.wordpress.com/2007/04/02/lessons-from-stepping-heavenward/) that reminded how much I loved the book Stepping Heavenward. Have you read it? Love you lots!
I hope I never make anyone feel horrid where they are. I know it means a ton when you are able to connect with someone. I remember having a hard time nursing and no one at my church was helpful. That blog reference was neat. It is super reading about other Christian moms and their ups and downs. I'm just getting my blog up and going again. Nate and Elijah are in the same room now. I'll have to read some more soon!
Okay, it's been 10 days since you "loved this lady". Give us something NEW to read while we munch Doritos and ignore the kids.
Or maybe a nice pic of Kevin's feet or Jesse's elbow?
;)
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