Tending to My Sheep.

My days are not all roses & butterflies and sometimes I yell and want to hit trees with a baseball bat. But sometimes my eyes are opened to the beauty of these fleeting days and this unique season.

Mothering little ones reminds me of David out tending his sheep, before the whole running-from-Saul days.  David was out in nature, taking care of his sheep and meeting their needs but with lots of time for conversing with God and noticing his hand in the world around him.  This is so like mothering little folks.  They require supervision and work, but our days are slow, in ways.  Henry just turned four in April, so we aren't doing the t-ball, soccer, music lessons, boy scout deals yet.  We have a couple of low-key activities and the rest of our days are flexible.  We can dig for rolly pollies.  We can walk to the pond near our house and feed the ducks.  We can use the toy excavator to pick up rocks and put them into a dump truck.

I remember when Henry was 2 and Elliot was 7 months old.  Elliot napped twice a day,  Henry napped once and their naps were staggered.  This meant that we were locked down at the house for about six hours a day, which goes completely against my mom-nature.  I tend to want to be out and about, going and blowing.  But, though I feared being at home with little people for hours on end, they ended up being some of my sweetest days.  I felt more aware of God everywhere I looked and I look back and can see growth and specific areas that he refined in my heart during that season.

Now my boys are bigger & there are more of them. The older two require me to be a referee more often but there is still lots of space for communing and seeing God, if I open my eyes and let go of distraction. That's key: embracing quiet moments and not immediately turning to the next thing.  He is tenderly leading me (and you) as I shepherd my little guys.

...he gently leads those that have young. Is 40:11