It's time to change my home-page here at Love Covers a Multitude of Sons.  When I began this site last year, I was still in the season of life I lovingly refer to as "the dark ages."  You know, those early mothering years when life is just... busier, harder, and messier than we had expected them to be.  

But this past month, through the course of our move, some health changes I've made like diet, vitamins, and exercise, and simply due to the nature of my little guys growing up, life isn't quite as hard as it has been these past four years.  Going to three children really upset my equilibrium and set me whirling.  But now that my youngest is four, I feel the fog lifting and the sun beginning to burn off the haze.

I'm seeing clearly.  I'm smiling more.  Life is more manageable.  And my faith is encouraged.  I'm listening to others better and grumbling in my spirit less.  I'm reading God's Word consistently and singing His Praises daily.  I'm back to playing with the children on our park dates and cuddling with their father on the couch in the evenings.   It's been a long time coming and I feel like shouting for Joy!

So, in honor of a new dawn, and the fact we don't own a stroller any more, I wanted to post my old home page.  If this is where you are, in your mothering today... know that it's a season.  It's not forever.  Persevere and seek the Lord who "gently leads those that have young." (Isaiah 40:11)  A new day is coming.  

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I'm the Mother of Boys

I don't have the vantage point I need from this side of glory to know why God saw fit to make me the mother of boys, (three boys popped out in quick succession,) but He did. It's been messy so far. I hate to be this honest, but it has been. Not just messy with frogs and bugs, cookie crumbs, spilled milk, and sand from the beach ground deep into the seams of my wood floors... but MESSSY... the kind of messy that's harder to clean and more difficult to describe.

Messy Emotionally, Messy Spiritually, Messy in my heart more than in my home. Messy, Messy, Messy...

The kind of Messy that drives me to Jesus before the Sun has fully risen each day.

I'm a Lady

What's a lady doing with a pack of boys? And loud ones too... Are they all loud? And dirty? I was made for peace and quiet, poetry, scones and roses! Truly, I'm the kind who naturally stops and smells them! The type who hums hymns, memorizes sonnets, and takes her tea white. It's all a little antiquated and nauseating for some, but it's me.

But how in the world can this type of Lady raise boys? By God's Grace, each day. Yes, by His Grace each and every Messy day.

I'm a Sinner Saved by Grace

If mothering hadn't proven so difficult for me these past few years, I think I would have been proud of myself and lost sight that all that is good comes from Him!

Since I'm naturally a nurturer and long dreamed of the day I'd set up my easel, make chocolate chip cookies, and stomp in mud puddles with my perfectly tempered children, I could have taken pride in my mothering and their developing character had all things worked out just so. But it's not working out as I had planned, like I said, it's messier than that. In light of my unrealistic expectations I've been able to see just how unladylike I can be, just how unloving my heart can feel, and how overwhelmed I can get. From this point on I will forever boast solely in Christ in me! Any merit that comes out of me as a mom, a wife, a teacher, or friend is simply His grace and love at work in me.

How easy it is to forget that we are all simply sinners saved by Grace. These little darlings remind us, don't they? And so, I'm beginning to see that Caleb, Brody and Asher aren't just my charges; they are the tools He has purposed to refine this woman, into a clearer reflection of His Grace, as I learn to accept it in my weakness and extend it in theirs.

And that's the home page that has welcomed my readers these past 8 months.  I hope to write a new one soon.  But not too fast... for every time I look back I am flooded with thankfulness for the messy years of mothering, as they have been the driving force requiring that I cling to Jesus each and every day.  I'll never regret the hard if i learn more fully in the midst of difficulties that Jesus is near and real and saving to this day.

Cling Mamas.  Persevere in faith and good works, and cling.

"Consider it pure joy, my (sisters), whenever you face trials of many kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurence. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when (she) asks, (she) must believe and not doubt, because (she) who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  Blessed is the (mom) who perseveres under trial, because when (she) has stood the test, (she) will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:2-6,12)