[showering with barbie]

As I am getting into the shower this morning (yes, the shower, in the master bathroom) I have to push aside with my foot a barbie doll -who has definitely seen better days- and a purple plastic teacup that has a smiley face. Upon doing so, I was stopped in my tracks for an instance and got to thinking. As much as I might complain about the mess that I find myself in the middle of every day and the endless array of clutter I constantly chase, I know that I would miss it if it weren't here. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I have a secret love affair with clutter and mess! What I simply mean is that the clutter and mess are there because I am a woman who has been blessed to HAVE children to make that mess and leave that clutter laying around everywhere, including my shower!

I got pregnant rather young (and rather unexpectedly I might add!) Later in life I managed to get pregnant again TWICE in rapid succession (less unexpectedly, but still unexpected all the same.) For me, getting pregnant and having children was never something I had to try at. It just HAPPENED for me, easily.

My parents struggled for years to start a family... and for them, it didn't come so easily. In fact, my brother and I are adopted due to the struggles they faced, and I thank God every day that events occurred in such a fashion that such a miracle came to pass. I grew up knowing how deeply the need to be a mother/father ran for both of my parents. I knew that they loved us SO much that my brother and I were born from their hearts. Our baby sister came along later, thanks to IVF, completing our family :)

The point being, there are many men and women out in the world who must endure the heart-wrenching, faith-questioning, relationship-testing, life-altering experience of struggling to conceive or not being able to have children of their own at all. There are also mothers and fathers out there who made the decision to allow their children to be raised by other families, for whatever reason, and have a hole in their heart for that beautiful child they gave the world to by making that choice.

I might complain a lot regarding the stress of being a mother who has three children to clean up after and take care of. I might grumble too much about the sticky hand prints that cover everything I own and finding cereal in places cereal should NOT be found. I might never get a moments peace, including in the bathroom, and I might spend more time kissing boo-boos and cleaning up snot, vomit, and poop than I'd care to spend, but at the end of the day I need to remember that I have been given one of the GREATEST blessings in life, and that is the blessing of motherhood. I have three healthy, intelligent, and naturally energetic children, and no matter how many messes they make or how much they may drive me up the wall on occasion, I am lucky to have them and hug them and kiss them and love them any time I want.

And yes, I am human, and there will be days that I still complain and days that I give serious consideration to selling them to the circus, because motherhood DOES THAT TO A PERSON! But, I am going to leave that purple plastic teacup with the smiley face in my shower... just as a reminder. The barbie, however, has to go... because it's just creepy to shower with a barbie :)