This is an essay that I read shortly after I had Ava that has stuck with me ever since.  I eventually typed it out and hung it on my refrigerator so I could see it everyday…and especially on those particularly hard ones!  It puts my mind back on the big picture, instead of focusing on the dirty diapers, the endless whining, the mountains of laundry or the frustrating web directories.  Above all, my job is to just love these little people!

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I Corinthians 13 for Moms

I can read bedtime stories till the cow jumps over the moon and sing “Ten Little Monkeys” until I want to call the doctor – but if I don’t have love, I’m as annoying as a ringing phone.

I can chase a naked toddler through the house while cooking dinner and listening to voice mail, I can fix the best cookies and Kool-Aid in the neighborhood, and I can tell a sick child’s temperature with one touch of my finger, but if I don’t have love, I am nothing.

Love is patient while watching and praying by the front window when it’s 30 minutes past curfew. Love is kind when my teen says “I hate you!” It does not envy the neighbor’s swimming pool or their brand new minivan, but trusts the Lord to provide every need.

Love does not brag when other parents share their disappointments and insecurities and rejoices when other families succeed.

It doesn’t boast, even when I’ve multitasked all day long and my husband can’t do more than one thing at a time.

Love is not rude when my spouse innocently asks, “What have you done today?” It is not easily angered, even when my 15-year-old acts like the world revolves around her. It is not self-righteous when I remind my 17-year-old that he’s going 83 in a 55-mph-zone, but rejoices in the truth.

Love trusts God to protect our children when we cannot. It perseveres through blue nail polish, burps and other bodily functions, rolled eyes, crossed arms, messy rooms and sleepovers.

Love never fails. But where there are memories of thousands of diaper changes and painful labors, they will fade away. Where there is talking back, it will (eventually) cease. (Please Lord?) But when we get to the Kingdom, our imperfect parenting will disappear. (Thank You, God!)

When we were children, we needed a parent to love and protect us. Now that we’re parents ourselves, we have a heavenly Father who adores, shelters, and holds us when we need to cry.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

- Author Unknown

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