MOMENTS OF REDEMPTION


This is one of my new favorite pictures of me and the kiddos in quite some time, so naturally, I made it my Facebook profile picture and WOW have my FB friends loved it!!! Lots and lots of likes!  The funny thing is, this was this morning on our way to church, I intended to take some pictures at Saint Francis Xavier because there are some beautiful places to take pictures...and, well, I got all of the kids ready for mass an hour early by accident because the kitchen clock is WAY off, so I figured what a great opportunity!  Well, my car wouldn't start and kids were getting restless so we improvised.  We called Mimi to pick us up for church and plopped down on our front steps as we waited for our ride and 30 minutes later we had a photo...and we got to church on time (thanks Mimi)!!

The thing about this picture and all the ones we "like" and envy on FB and Instagram is that it is ONE moment in time!  We judge ourselves against others based on these photos and the fact is, our lives are made up of the post worthy photos, but way more often the ones we are thankful others will never see.

Today, I had some very "un-post worthy" moments.  

I was moving some furniture around and of course the kiddos get super excited about all the changes!  Anyone who knows me well would be surprised that I don't do this all the time anymore, but it gets exponentially harder the more children that are involved!  So after this beautiful picture was taken and my children behaved amazingly well at mass, my collaborative spirit (with 5 & 7 year olds) and my patience with them -and my husband who would not take them away- was wearing very, very 

thin!!

Needless to say, the snapshot you see above is not indicative of my mood or demeanor overall today...makes me feel pretty sad when I have these AMAZING little people to love, and teach, all the while be continually amazed by.  But here's the thing that makes that picture the true story of our day...in between my frustration and cross words were kind words.  In between their tears and tantrums were hugs and kisses.  And then, at the end of the day, when I felt like a fraud for posting that picture, my three AMAZING kids kissed me and squeezed me as they said good night!  They love me anyway!  They LOVE ME anyway!!

These are the moments of redemption!  They know I love them despite my flaws and faults...and they squeeze my neck and tell me they love me anyway!!