Coffee Cup Encouragement

Morning always comes too soon. Mothers aren't always able to sleep through the night, rarely get the recommended daily allowance of sleep (everyone is worried about the kids getting enough sleep but they get more than their moms!) and don't often allow themselves to take a nap due to that ever-growing To Do List and their self-imposed burden of guilt.

My morning cup of coffee, or two or three, isn't a luxury, it is a necessity.

I've often joked that an IV would be a wiser choice, but I hate needles.

Besides, I love my cups. They are a way I encourage myself in parenting.

I splurged and bought this cup on clearance for myself after Grace was born, my fourth child in six years. I remember the work, but I remember the joy of another beautiful little girl. It was like getting another new baby doll. Babies are SO worth the work!

This mug was purchased to encourage myself in parenting my boys. I knew I was in trouble when 7 year old Daniel snuggled up to 1 day old baby Jon and said, "I can hardly wait until he is old enough to wrestle." That was a warning, an admonition and a premonition at all once. After 13 years of thumping, wacking, jumping, tripping, punching, wrestling, pinching, wet-willying, half-nelsoning, throwing-brother's-baseball-bat in the fire incidents, the house is now eerily quiet and Jon can be abnormally reserved during the day. Now, I worry about that. So BOY coping isn't a skill I need to utilize anymore, but that's OK. It was about worn out.

My two other favorite mugs were somehow broken, ya' know, sometimes my things just show up broken. I'm sure the true story will be revealed years from now when they are bragging at a family reunion. "Hey, remember that time we broke mom's favorite coffee mugs cuz' we were playing football with the dishes while loading the dishwasher?"

If Momma Ain't Happy Ain't Nobody Happy

This wasn't a threat to the kids to keep Momma happy, it was a reminder to myself to keep the household atmosphere loving and happy. Mom can set the emotional thermometer in the house; when she turns up the heat, everyone begins to sweat. When she keeps her cool, everyone else enjoys the refreshment in the air.

Children Are Nature's Way of Saying Your House Was Way Too Clean

This mug helped keep my priorities straight. You know, you'll never look back on life and say, "I wish I had cleaned my house more." We'll look back and wonder if we held the kids enough, played with them enough, made enough memories, gave enough kisses, taught enough skills, but above all, did we speak to them enough about our faith? Did we teach them the Word? Did we fill their hearts and minds with precious thoughts and songs of the Savior?

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Sometimes we need to sit still and meditate about our parenting - our goals, our ambitions, our values and our faith. What can be done differently? What is going well? We need to refocus, refresh and renew our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. There isn't any part of your body that isn't first tapped, then zapped, with parenting.

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My morning cup of coffee is necesary, but it is not the main focus of my encouragement; that comes from what's in my other hand, my Bible. It is my source of the wisdom, strength, love and joy I need for the hardest job on earth.

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The job where the labor is never ending, but the rewards could be eternal. You can't bring anything to heaven with you, except other souls.