The Joyful Jungle

Recently I saw an essay contest in a magazine for “what motherhood means to you.” They allotted three hundred words for a topic that I honestly don’t think I could begin to fit into a 5000 page book, let alone a one page essay. But alas, I began writing what motherhood meant to me. And then, quite astonished, I realized that motherhood meant so much to me but really was without definition unless I included God in my description. I knew at that moment that what motherhood meant to me would not be appreciated by a mainstream magazine, but possibly by a multitude of other mothers who, like me, are in the trenches daily and just need a little encouragement, a reminder of how wonderful being a mommy is.
As I write this, I am surrounded by a sea of toys from this morning, and blankets from their pretend sleep over last night, and dishes from dinner that I didn’t have time to wash. The toilet paper is coming out of the bathroom from my toddler who has recently become fascinated with undoing the entire roll, and the bucket of crayons are all over the kitchen floor because the previous mentioned toddler wanted to see what the bottom of the bucket looked like. There is a sticky mess on the entry way floor from where a sippy cup proved to not be spill proof and yes, there is dust on the top of the piano where, quite frankly, I don’t care about cleaning. My little home aka my jungle is messy. I have four children three and under whose personal mission in life it seems is to see to it that it stays in a continuous state of messiness. And though my home is chock-full of messes, it is overflowing with love, laughter, tears, accomplishments, struggles and so much more.
Every day, at some point, I wonder what God saw in me when He chose me to be entrusted with my four children. I am such a work in progress – ask my husband! And, I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we would probably admit we are all works in progress. I have come to realize that it’s a journey. And the journey is not so much about the destination as how we get there. So, the cleaning can wait – let’s grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the journey of motherhood together.