Parenting is Overwhelming

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the mess. Sometimes by the screaming. Sometimes by the laundry. The dishes. The neediness. The touching. The nursing. The responsibility. The importance of it all. 

But sometimes I am overwhelmed by the preciousness of it all. Sometimes I am floored when I look at these two tiny people and think of where they will go and where they came from. I am humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude when I imagine God looking into my heart and lifting me up from the ground. He saw that I was worthy to be a mother, in fact the very exact mother that he wanted for these children. He sees worth in me where I often see none, and he gave me the treasure of children, so that I might empty myself for the love of them. He chose to bless me with children while choosing to give others a cross to bear. Why He did this I can't understand, and when I think on the goodness He has shown me, I am speechless. This great gift, the gift of being a parent, is truly overwhelming.