I've spent the last 8 years juggling kids, school schedules, sporting events, and work hours.
There have been times when I have needed to be in two places at once. Times when work started before the morning bell, or when they got out before I did. Times when my kids needed to be someplace and I just couldn't get them there.
Schedule impossibilities stare me in the face still. I have all three in three different schools. They participate in sports and before and after school activities. And there is no way in the world that I can do it all by myself and still work!
But my kids get to where they need to be each week. . .
. . .and it is because of other moms, my friends, that step in and fill the gaps when my schedule doesn't allow me to be everywhere all the time.
For the past 8 years I have developed relationships with these women. Their schedules are just as crazy as mine, but together we get this mom job done each day.
In raising our kids and admitting that we need some help, something beautiful has bloomed.
Friendships
It is to these friends that I write to tonight:
In eight years we have shared more than just the mom job. We have shared our lives, our disappointments, our time, our joys, and our tears.
We have sat on couches together and prayed for our children and their schools.
We have stood on the sidelines and cheered for each others' kids at soccer games, cross country meets, football games, track and field events, and water polo and baseball games.
We have walked together through cancer.
We have lost moms and father-in-laws.
And we've sat next to each other at a funeral, awards assemblies, and in buses traveling to field trips.
We have cried together and laughed a lot.
We trust each other with our most precious possessions. Our kids.
Our kids are safe at each other's houses, and when I can't be there I feel better knowing that one of you can stand in my place.
We have shared our baking, our families, our minivans or S.U.V.'s, encouragement, and appreciation for one another.
We have given grace when we have forgotten each other's kids and have laughed at our moments of absentmindedness.
Being a mom is not easy and we all get that! And we get that there is a depth of connection when you trust like this. And I need you and you need me and we really do need each other to survive some days.
This week, one of our husbands did not survive a terrible crash. And because we are all in this thing called life together, we all grieve together.
And our hearts ache for our friend . . and the kids.
I appreciate this community of women. I just want you to know that.
You love well, not just this week, but in all the years past, through all the messes of life we have walked through. This little community in this big city is a jewel.
I am praying for God's grace as we once again sit together at a funeral, as we once again shed tears. As this community of women walks down yet another path with a woman we all call "friend."
I am thankful for you and the roles you have played, no matter how big or small, in my kids' lives over the years. I appreciate your trust in me with your own kids.
There is strength in this community of women. God has placed us here, together, for a reason. He alone is our strength And when one is weak it is His strength in another that upholds.
I have been blessed to be a part of this communtiy. I pray that I have been a blessing too. And I look forward with hope to the future blessings that will come from such a community of women as this.
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11