One of my favorite childhood memories comes from the fall of my 4th or 5th grade year. It was a time when shirts with iron-on fabric outlined in puff paint were popular. I was in elementary school and wearing one of these handmade shirts was VERY cool. And, I wanted to be cool so mom and I picked out some fabric for a fall-themed shirt for her to make for me.
It was the night before Thanksgiving break and I had come home expecting the special sweatshirt to be ready to wear. Unfortunately, my mom had not had the chance to start working on it.
---I will pause here and explain that my mom worked full-time outside of the home and balanced work with being a wife and mother...and leader of my Camp Fire Girls troop, Sunday School teacher, and Chairwoman of our church's annual Thanksgiving Dinner Event.
Anyhow, the next morning when I woke up mom led me into the laundry room where I saw the finished sweatshirt (in all its glory!). There it was, the black sweatshirt with cut-out leaves in fall-themed fabric outlined in puff paint. It was the coolest shirt and I loved it. To this day, I remember how touched I was in that moment by her sacrifice and the blessing that this gift was to me. It still is one of the coolest surprises I have experienced in life and something that I admire her for making happen!
That being said...
Gavin and I had our second movie date this morning.
We saw 'I Don't Know How She Does It"
I was hoping for the movie to be good and thought it would at least be fun...
It was the night before Thanksgiving break and I had come home expecting the special sweatshirt to be ready to wear. Unfortunately, my mom had not had the chance to start working on it.
---I will pause here and explain that my mom worked full-time outside of the home and balanced work with being a wife and mother...and leader of my Camp Fire Girls troop, Sunday School teacher, and Chairwoman of our church's annual Thanksgiving Dinner Event.
Anyhow, the next morning when I woke up mom led me into the laundry room where I saw the finished sweatshirt (in all its glory!). There it was, the black sweatshirt with cut-out leaves in fall-themed fabric outlined in puff paint. It was the coolest shirt and I loved it. To this day, I remember how touched I was in that moment by her sacrifice and the blessing that this gift was to me. It still is one of the coolest surprises I have experienced in life and something that I admire her for making happen!
That being said...
Gavin and I had our second movie date this morning.
We saw 'I Don't Know How She Does It"
I was hoping for the movie to be good and thought it would at least be fun...
It far exceeded my expectations-- I think it is GREAT!For one thing, I love the main character's personality and approach to life. She is a wife, mom, and working professional. She loves her husband and the movie follows their relationship as they balance marriage, family and work. She is the rare movie character who is family-friendly, accepts responsibility for her missteps, exemplifies gratitude and humility, is kind to the myriad of people that stand in judgement of her, and still looks for the good in each day. I think this movie is a great shout-out/high-five to working moms--it portrays the very difficult balancing act you have as one to be admired and respected.
My mom worked outside of the home when I was growing up and only as an adult can I now more fully appreciate how challenging it was for her to juggle it all. Thank you, Mom for all the sacrifices you made (both those seen and unseen). I am reminded of the story in the Bible from Matthew Chapter 6 which says, in part, "Your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:4).
If you are a working mom or know a working mom give her a hug today--and maybe even offer to watch her kids so she can have a date night with her hubs!
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