Mom's a Superhero!

Recently, my husband's colleague shared a most charming moment in her story as a mother -- her son told her that a mother's apron was her superhero's cape!  Her apron!  Who knew!?

My husband, My Hero, God bless him, has never failed to buoy me up in my own role as the mother of his children.

"Ugh!"  I'll groan some days. "I didn't get anything done today!"

He'll look puzzled. "Yes, you did. You raised our children."

Some days, we can get so bogged down in what we perceive to be the necessary, yet utterly mundane, responsibilities of the day:

We must finish the laundry.
We must do school.
We must make dinner.
We must run errands.
We must clean the bathrooms.

And while these things are indeed important to efficiently run a bustling household, we sometimes can get frustrated with the seeming lack of real importance in these actions.  I mean, honestly, is anyone going to come into my house and nominate me for an Oscar because I have a sparkling commode?

"Maria!" they will say, with a breathless admiring gasp.  "Your toilets really shine!"

"Well, I'd like to thank the Academy...."

Um.  No.

But, it's in moments like these, when I'm stepping over littered toys, dragging a screaming toddler who's glued to my left calf, as I take out a trashcan full of diapers from having swabbed 1,479 rear ends that day, that my dear husband will turn on the computer and play Jamie O'Neal's "Somebody's Hero":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_uMQTw7v2g

For me.  Wow.  How very humbling.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta famously said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."  And Brother Lawrence said, "Our sanctification depends not on changing our works, but on doing that for Jesus's sake which commonly we do for our own."

(I've got that one right next to my kitchen sink, by the crucifix!)

It's on days like that and moments like these that I need to remember that not all of us are called to be stars on the world stage.  In fact, very few of us are.  In fact, most of us are mere groundlings ([ground-lings] noun  ....4. a member of a theater audience who sits in one of the cheaper seats).

A groundling.  I know I sure am.

But then, I also know Who made us.  God made us.  Why did God make us?  God made us to know, love, and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

Even the groundlings.

So don't "should" on yourself about all the seemingly mundane things you "must" do around your domain.

I should finish the laundry.
I should do school.
I should make dinner.
I should run errands.
I should clean the bathrooms.

Honestly!  Stop should-ing on yourself!  Instead, look upon these tasks as opportunities in service to Him.  And be open to accomplishing whatever He has in mind for you today, whether it's cleaning toilets or something else completely out of proverbial left field, that was not on your List Of Things To Do Today.

This morning, instead of accomplishing another row of math equations and washing the breakfast dishes, I played dollhouse with my five year old.  I couldn't remember the last time I had done that.  Isn't that sad?

And I was her hero for it!  For the rest of the day, she wanted to nest her tiny hand in mine or plant little fairy kisses on my cheek.

The laundry, the dishes, the vacuuming, and even dinner, all can wait.  Go be some little person's hero, whether your little person is two or twenty-two.  Cuddle them or call them.

Because when your offspring finally accepts that Academy Award, the first human being s/he will thank is you!