My broken angel in the winter garden
My poor little angel statue she endured the flowers of the spring, and baseballs landing on or around her, the leaves of the fall and the basketball drilling her little wings, and the snow and ice of the winter. She started out with two arms as well as two wings. One wing has been broken off and two little arms as well. She sits among the frozen leaves stuck into the barren ground crooked.
How often do you feel like my little angel? You are able to watch with joy and anticipation the growth of your children with the change of seasons and with that you are trampled underfoot, stuck crooked into the barren wasteland, forgotten and broken. If you are a mom then you have had that feeling. As much as we love to watch our children blossom into the beautiful people they are becoming we are torn by their autonomy. The little angel holds a beautiful expression upon her face yet her wing is gone and she can no longer fly. She stands steady although she looks as though she may fall, she will not.
Every mom has been through days like that. Days when we feel broken and worn down by the fits of our toddlers, ready to just give in, and by the arguments with our 10 year olds because they know it all. We feel our arms being yanked out in both directions by our children, our spouse and our work. We feel like we are going to fall, like we are barely able to stay up straight. Sometimes we just wish secretly that we could fall and have that retreat. That we could shatter into pieces and someone else could actually clean up the mess other than us. But we don’t do it, yes in our little ways we break sometimes daily but we still stand because we don’t do it for ourselves we do it for the love of our life; our children. As broken and crooked as we feel I think our children see us as whole, the pillar of strength, able to fly, invincible. Our children see through the eyes of true love just as we see all the good in each of our children.
It’s ok to feel broken accept it, own it and then straighten yourself up and do what you do best, even though half the time you’re not sure if you’re doing it right at all, and be a mom. Love your children through the seasons; watch them grow like the flowers of the garden. Mend your broken wing and arms and do it all again. Moms are not made to be perfect only human! Thank God that He gave us the will, motivation and most of all the unconditional love to never let the broken parts of us break our spirit and love for our children.
My little angel is just a statue but YOU are a creation of God’s very hands the breath you breathe he blew into your lungs, the love in your heart He created to share as only a mother can. Embrace that love for your children and always know YOU will endure, God created YOU so that you can endure all the seasons, the broken wings, the broken arms and the crooked stance for your children.
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO! – GREETINGS LORI, THANK YOU FOR POSTING ON MY WALL. MAY GOD BE PRAISED FOR HIS MINISTRY THROUGH YOU! – I, TOO, HAVE KNOWN THE FEELINGS OF THE ‘LITTLE ANGEL,’ BEING A MUM TO 5 BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN, THROUGH DIFFICULT PARTNERSHIPS & ILLNESS, WAS NOT AN EASY TASK, & OFTEN WERE THE TIMES I DESPAIRED, AS I WAS UNABLE, THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES, TO GIVE THEM THE STABLE, NURTURING CHILDHOOD, THEY DESERVED, & NEEDED. YET IN SPITE OF IT ALL, THEY ARE NOW GROWN INTO FINE UPSTANDING ADULTS ANY PARENT WOULD BE PROUD OF. I LEARNED THE HARD LESSON VERY EARLY, THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO SHIELD MY CHILDREN FROM PAINFUL & DIFFICULT EXPERIENCES, & I WAS FORCED TO – LET GO, & LET GOD! — PUTTING ALL MY TRUST IN HIM, THAT REGARDLESS OF WHAT MY, OR MY CHILDREN’S OPINION OF OUR FAMILY LIFE WAS, GOD WAS IN CONTROL, & HE HAD HIS REASONS FOR EVERYTHING. – LOOKING BACK, ALTHOUGH I DO HAVE MOMENTS OF REGRET, WHERE I WOULD LOVE TO CHANGE LOTS OF THINGS, – YET THE REALITY REMAINS, THAT IT IS ONLY A PASSING THOUGHT, & HAS NO SUBSTANCE! – GOD’S WAY IS ALWAYS RIGHT, & HIS WAY IS OFTEN HARD. LIKE MYSELF, MY CHILDREN ALSO HAD THEIR CROSS TO BEAR, & IT WAS A BURDEN ONLY GOD COULD KNOW OR HELP THEM WITH! – NOW I AM A GRANDMOTHER, MY PRAYER FOR MY FAMILY CAN BE SUMMED UP IN TWO POEMS I WROTE YEARS AGO, DURING THE HEIGHT & DEPTH OF MY STRUGGLES! __ I WISH FOR YOU UPON EACH DAY, A JOY THAT YOU CAN’T HIDE, & PEACE, WHICH LIKE A RIVER, FLOODS ALL OF HUMANKIND! – MY WISH IS WRAPPED IN HAPPINESS, & TIED WITH SOFT MOONBEAMS, & SEALED WITH ANGEL KISSES, & PLACED AMONG YOUR DREAMS!___ I DON’T WISH YOU DAYS OF SUNSHINE, OR EVEN VIBRANT HEALTH, I DON’T WISH YOU LOVE SUBLIME, OR LUXURY & WEALTH! – BUT WHAT I WISH FOR YOU EACH DAY, INDEED, FOREVERMORE, IS FOR LOVE DIVINE TO LIGHT YOUR WAY, AS YOU WANDER LIFE’S VAST SHORE! __ MAY GOD BLESS YOU, LORI, & MAY HE MIGHTILY INCREASE THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOUR, THAT THOSE TO WHOM HE WOULD HAVE YOU MINISTER, WILL BE INSPIRED, ENCOURAGED, CONSOLED & STRENGTHENED, IN ALL THEIR ENDEAVOURS, ESPECIALLY IN THEIR ROLE AS MOTHERS TO THE NEXT GENERATION!- HAVE A GREAT DAY, LORI, & MAY GOD BLESS YOU & YOUR FAMILY MOST ABUNDANTLY!