Monday, May 12, 2014

Mom's

The other night, the kids were snuggled up on the couch in front of the TV. It was the end of a long day and they were happy to finally have a moment to relax. The Double B and I were in our room, and as I got up to check on them I saw the cutest sight... you could only see about six inches of the top of KJ's head from where I stood, but there was also this tiny hand -- Olivia's -- reached way up high, scratching and rubbing his head for him. My heart just melted into a puddle of goo. When I snuck up, this is what I saw -- the three of them bunched up together, and Katelyn sleeping peacefully. It was pretty heavenly.
I like being a Mom. I may not be a sparkly Mom, and I may not be the amazing multi-tasking Mom, and I might not be a crafty Mom, a wild activities Mom, or the constantly-going Mom, but I love, love, love my kids -- and I want to be the best Me I can be -- for them. I will actively have faith that my best, while mediocre compared to some, is good enough for them. And I will try to remember that I am growing a human right now, and therefore; definitely not going to reach my "regular" best. I can just do my best for right now. That is where the Savior steps in. I determined yesterday that one thing I CAN do is be a pleasant Mom for them. So that's my goal. To be a pleasant, calm Mom. The rest will fall into place.
Yesterday at church one of the speakers said that he compared Motherhood to the scripture from John "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That Mothers forsake not just full health to bring children into the world, but often forsake vanity, ego, and personal driving ambition for these little friends. Essentially, his feeling was, we lay down our lives for them. I thought that was a tender thought. I know that is what my Mom did for her children, what the Double B's Mom did for her children.
So -- guess what. We had our first Tornado Warning! On Saturday. It was thrilling -- our very first. We took it like champions. KJ had a birthday party at a place called Craze Maze about twenty minutes away, so I took him and left the girls with their Dad. The night before I'd dreamt of tornados, knowing the forecast, I guess. So while I was sitting there I got a severe thunderstorm alert on my phone and texted the Double B that I had a bad dream and I am a wimp. Then, as KJ finished up, my phone sent another alert that golf-ball sized hail had been reported in the Northland. Great. So I drove home, watching the sky and hoping our little car wasn't about to be pelted on the freeway. We saw the weirdest rainbow I've ever seen... it wasn't in an arc, it was a very, very, very thick straight line dashed across the storm clouds. KJ and I were very impressed by it. Like nothing I'd ever seen, then it disappeared. We got home just on wet roads, thankfully, but then I started hearing from friends in the subdivision over -- about two blocks away, and they'd been pelted by the giant hail! It swept right to the side of us! Roof damage, gardens ruined. Wild, huh. About twenty minutes later we're sitting there and our weather radio siren goes off, so I go to check, and there it was, flashing red -- TORNADO WARNING -- SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. You are not going to believe this, but I've never felt calmer in my life. Pretty confident in saying it was the Holy Ghost helping me out there, because I was calm as a summer morning. I gathered the kids and my husband who was saying things like "Are you sure? It really said that? We need to go downstairs, really?" and off we went to the basement. The kids were very surprised and kept asking "Is this just a drill?" Nope! So while listening to the weather radio and following my tornado app I put everyone to work straightening up the basement while we waited it out. Better then just sitting there. The tornado that had touched down and set off the warning was about ten miles away -- right where the kids and I had been having a little adventure that morning, so that was cool that I knew right where it was. It was a very fast moving system with a large, rain-wrapped rotation. About twenty minutes later the warning was cancelled and back up we went. While I finished making dinner I watched the news coverage as it followed the tornado, still on the ground, for about twenty minutes. Really smacked a little town called Orrick, but no serious injuries. Wild. So now we're all official. That's right, ya'all. We are MID-WESTERNERS.  

1 comment:

Ducksoup said...

Man rie you should like right a book on your tornado adventures! Love your posts