"Your body is the first thing any child of man ever wanted. Therefore dispose yourself to be loved, to be wanted, to be available. Be there for them with a vengeance. Be a gracious, bending woman. Incline your ear, your heart, your hands to them.... To be a Mother is to be the sacrament - the effective symbol - of place. Mothers do not make homes, they are our home." from Bed and Board, Robert Farrar Capon
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Oxen are In
I am no stranger to household messes. My husband and I had our first five babies in six years. Lots of messes there. Then we continued on, to have six more babies. Five children plus six more children equals eleven, which equals mess after mess, and messes on top of messes! Our oldest was 21 when our youngest was born, so even when we had older children that weren't still making messes, we also always had younger children that were. I remember sometimes, back then, I would think of Proverbs 14:4 (Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox) and I would comfort myself those words. Not that our children were oxen, or our house a barn. But somehow I drew comfort from the fact that all my hard work wouldn't be in vain. Someday much increase would come through those little mess makers. So when this title caught my eye, on the Femina blog, I had to smile. I knew what it would be about. The Oxen Are In. Read it here on the Femina blog.
He looks innocent enough.
Labels:
children,
housework,
Rachel Jankovic,
vocation
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Thank you Cathy! I will try to remember this next time im stressing myself out because the house isn't spotless or my little mess makers are extra messy! Which will be in 5...4...3...
ReplyDeleteThis is very encouraging to me, especially since I'm still very much in the "oxen are in" stage of life :-) and I love the part about "the stickers that somehow only stick permanently to the wrong surfaces" I know that pain :-)
ReplyDeleteVery precious insight!
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Mrs. White
I've always found comfort meditating on that verse as well. Thanks Cathy.
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