We sat down to lunch near part of a family of 14, 12 kids and 2 parents. The majority of them were all sitting around the table next to us. They were all sitting patiently as their father and older siblings brought food from the buffet, some of them quietly sharing chairs with little ones, etc. Once they were all seated and eating, the mom and 4 others ended up being some of those sitting with us. I said to her...

"I am going to assume your children are not perfect and you work really hard to train them to obey."

To which she replied, "That's all I do all day."

To which I replied, "You are doing an amazing job. It really shows!"

This struck me on a variety of levels and the truth behind it.

The first thing to note was that I wasn't actually thinking when I said the comment. Not that I wasn't thinking as in I was being stupid, but that it came from deep within my heart and before I could stop myself, the words came forth. In this way, the statement really spoke to me, even though I said the words.

I was really struck by the comment about "assume your kids aren't perfect." My husband always reminds me of this but I need to keep reminding myself - kids are not perfect. They are sinful little mini-me&yous running around. Well, maybe your child is perfect, but I know ours aren't. They are not content little passive creatures that rarely speak and just read books all day long. They are going to mess up, break things, push things, etc.

Then the part "you work really hard to train them." Which I know was true of this mom, and is oh-so-true of so many hardworking moms I know, and to which God spoke to my heart, "That includes you, Dana." Now, our kids were not perfect angles at Faithwalkers the whole time, there was still insanity, but I was really proud at how well they did. Someone commented to me that it must be easier when their older, but the truth is, that God really showed me, was we worked really hard for the last 4 months of the school year to get the kids to sit quietly during 6 hours of seminars a day. Again, our kids are not calm by nature, they are crazy like their mama and sitting does not come naturally to them. For me, it was as if God was saying, "See, all that hard work that you do all day long, it is not in vain." And while it was not all "perfect" it was showing progress and that was a huge encouragement to my heart.

That ties in with her response of "That's what I do all day." Amen, sister.

Then my additional response of, "You are doing an amazing job." How much moms need to hear that! One of the speakers said to me that she just wanted to hug all the moms and tell them good job AND OH how much that is needed. You moms out there ARE doing a great job! Your daily decision to get up, love God, love your husband, love your children is amazing! Staying at home, training them, teaching them, it is not soap operas and bon-bons. (Not to forget, going to work and raising children and maintaining a home is intense too!) Motherhood is hard work, watching your children, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, teaching them right from wrong, lots of tears you have wiped away of theirs and yours. Good job Moms, next time I see you, let's give each other hugs and shed a few tears, ok?

The last thing that struck me was what this mother of 12 said to me next, "We once had an high impact dinner, so that really helps. We were all out to dinner once and the kids were behaving so badly we left the restaurant without eating and went straight home without dinner." Brilliant.