Learning at twenty-five from my mom...

There is this beautiful lady I know, I call her Mom. When I think of my mom
 I see her laughing,
 I see her praying,
I see her reading her Bible,
I see her making sacrifices all day long,
I hear her teaching us to pray for first responders and those they're headed to help when we hear sirens,
I hear her telling us to say "Praise the Lord" when we hear "Oh my God" or "God's" name being taken in vain, when one curses His name she wanted us to give Him glory that was just taken away.
To name a few.. She was and is an amazing Mom.
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Growing up you don't think much about dishes, dinners, house cleaning, grocery shopping, bill paying, insurance..
you live care free,mostly.

When I first got married and started being a wife I couldn't believe the duties I had.
Laundry?!
Dishes?!
Dinner with sides ready at the same time?!
Errands?!
Logging online to pay bills before they're late?!
& the list goes on!

Being an adult can be challenging. I'll be honest, our laundry is not always done, our bathroom sink is not always shiny, our floors have dog hair, our dishes sit clean in the sink for hours sometimes. After finding out I was pregnant when I got off work all I wanted to do was sleep.
Sleep means no work is getting done...so the house went downhill fast.
Then we made a trip home to Texas, still napping during this visit I noticed something about my Mom that I hadn't noticed before.
As you can tell I think a lot of her, when I think back on my childhood I have no idea how she ran a business for my dad,
 homeschooled three children,
ran a household and kept it spotless (the cars too!).
When she cooked meals for us or did anything for us, the mess was never taken into consideration.
Yall want dessert? Instead of sitting it on a plate we just used for dinner, clean plates came out with fresh forks, coffee mugs and fresh coffee.
Yall want fried jalapenoes and pickles? Two pans, filled with oil, two dishes to serve them in, dishes for ranch dressing also, with glasses for tea. Plus here's some dishes with your pickles, or your ketchup for the meal.
Yall want lunch in the middle of the day?
Here come the pots, pans, dishes to cook or make you want you want.

She is not lazy.
This spoke volumes to me and I think about it every single day.
Does my mom want to be washing dishes all hours of the night? No, but guess what if cleaning dishes means her family is home, they've had a good meal and now they're going to walk through or use a clean kitchen then that is what she is working on.

When we got back I felt so lazy and irresponsible.
I want Austin to feel treasured, special, pampered, spoiled and like his wife cares about the home he has provided and that she takes joy in being a homemaker (even while having a job).I have tried my hardest since we've been home to make sure I do small things around the house to show just how much a happy family means to me.

Can you imagine how you would feel if the minute you walked in the door and sat down someone was asking you, can I get you a water or snack? and they did whatever it took to make you something no matter what it meant for their load of work ?

I say all this hoping she will be an encouragement to you like she has with me,
there's nothing she wouldn't do for her family and she doesn't think about herself,
she thinks about her family. It blessed us so much and I hope to be that kind of mom and wife!

Blessings!