Doing it in a loving way

I have to tell you that one of the worst things for me about being a mother is taking the kids to the bathroom in a public place. I know that for most people, this is something that is not that big of a deal, but I HATE IT!!! Every time my 4 year old tells me she has to go potty, I sigh, hoping someone else will take her. Usually I end up doing it.

I was at my FROG (Families relying on God) meeting the other day and we were talking about our callings. It seems as though I was called to be a wife and a mother, although I was not thinking that these were very important callings. It was just something I did. I mean think about it, being a Priest, Sister, Nun, or Brother is much more important in this world and a much BIGGER calling isn't it? Well, after we talked about it for a while, I started to realize how important my calling was and that I was not taking it very seriously. I mean God called me to do this and for the most part I seem to run on auto-pilot and just do what I am supposed to. I used to pride myself on being a "fun" mom and "fun" wife. I was smiling all the time and got down and dirty with the kids. With in the last year, that has changed. With all the baseball, softball, dance, cheerleading, hockey, and not to mention dinners, cleaning and laundry to do there just wasn't time in the day to do the "fun" things anymore. After that discussion with my "moms" I realized how much I missed doing these things and that I was missing my calling.

That is when, on Friday night, we were at a carnial at the church and we were having a blast. We decided that it was time to go home and McKenna (4) said she had to go potty. This time, instead of a big sigh or getting aggrivated, I said OK, let's go. I then remembered our discussion about our callings. These mundane tasks that we do everyday are all part of our calling and it is important to do them "In a Loving Way". That is the part that is the calling. Every diaper change, every time we take children to the bathroom, and any other task that we find stressful, it is important to do it in a loving way. I have been reminding myself of that all weekend and have seen a HUGE change in our house in just a few days. I am clamer, the kids are calmer, and I am back to HAVING FUN with my kids.