Mother Teresa

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

I belong to a Mother's Bible Study at my church. The book we are studying right now is about Mother Teresa. She was so loving and caring - amazing life. The one thing she says is that we should see Jesus in everyone. "Each of them is Jesus in disguise." I am trying. Even in my children. When they are whining for something I try to realize that they aren't just little people "bugging" me, they are gifts from God and God gave them to me and Tom to take care of. I need to take care of them. When they are hungry, give them food. When they are thirsty, give them drink. Clothe them. Care for them when they are not well - both physically and emotionally.
We went to mass last Sunday in the evening. Mornings can be stressful when we're rushing to get out with everyone, so sometimes we enjoy going at night. If our younger ones are tired, it can be a little difficult. This Sunday, our children were acting pretty good, but we still had a couple of "moments." Our baby was crying and I had to stand up with him. While standing against the wall, our 2 youngest daughters kept running back and forth between me and our pew. Of course, when things like this happen you think everyone is looking and paying attention to you. But at the end of mass while we were getting our coats on, a lady sitting a couple of pews behind us, smiled at us and told us how wonderful our children were during mass. She said she enjoyed seeing our "big" family. We smiled and thanked her. It was nice to hear. We went to the back of our church and were getting ready to go out into the cold to our 2 cars, when another lady came up to us. She had smiled at me from across the Narthex then walked across to our family. She said that she was sitting behind us during mass and just wanted to say how much she enjoyed seeing a family with so many children. She asked if any of them were twins and then told our children how well-behaved they were during mass. Our children smiled at her and I thanked her for letting them know. I said it was nice for them to hear that from other people.
Later, I thought more of these 2 ladies. I believe that God sent them over to us. We are to see Jesus in everyone and perhaps these ladies were like Jesus coming over to Tom and I to let us know that we're ok, we are doing a good job. There are times when we feel a bit overwhelmed, especially when I get a phone call, or a note telling me that one of our children goofs off in class or isn't getting their work turned in, or got into trouble for misbehaving - again. And some days our home is very loud. Some days I feel like it is 7 against 1 (when Tom is at work.) Some days I am being pulled in 7 different directions. I tell Tom to never call home between 4:00 and 6:00. Homework, getting dinner ready and nursing a baby fill those 2 hours. I can't fit anything else.
People ask how I do it. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing it right, but I am doing my best. I really do enjoy every single one of our children. From chatting with my teenage son to cuddling with my 5 mth old baby (and kissing those sweet chubby little feet.) In fact, Jacob looks a lot like Brandon when he was a baby. I feel like I went back 13 years and then reality hits and I realize just how quickly those 13 years went. (I'm going to have a kindergartner and a college freshmen in the same year!)
People also ask me if we're "done." I usually just smile. I don't know. I know that some people don't understand and just assume we're crazy. We're really not. Tom and I are best friends. We have chosen not to do anything to stop a pregnancy because of our faith. Our children literally come from God and the love between me and my husband. It's amazing to think about that while looking at our children. Plus, we have been blessed with being able to have children. We have been blessed with being able to care for them. No, it's not always easy, but it's worth it. Even though we miss out on some things. We've noticed that we're not always invited to things that we used to be. I guess we're a few too many now. That's ok. "Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home." And those that truly love us - love all of us. We are a family and each person is a very important part of our family.