My Heart is Full

 The girls and I went to meet my parents for dinner yesterday evening. We happened to get to the restaurant before they did so we sat in the car and took some selfies. Anything to keep them happy and entertained! Well, I snapped a picture that has quickly turned into one of my favorite current pictures of them!

 (I mean look at my beautiful girls!)

As I was sitting here looking at their picture, I started imagining our 3rd little girl sandwiched between them. How completely blessed am I that I get to raise and love and nurture these 3 little girls. And I thought to myself "my heart is so full". So full of love, so full of gratefulness, so full of hope, just so full. God has blessed me so much.

Whenever I was thinking about how full my heart is, I had a memory pop in my head. I was out with the girls this week and a random stranger just made the side comment "you've got your hands full". I've actually had this comment a few times over the summer when I've been out with both girls. And I'm always so taken back when this comment is thrown my way, never sure what to say. Because yes, I am a mom. Don't all moms have their hands full? Isn't that what being a mom is about whether you have 1 child or 4?

But here's the thing. I'm glad I have my "hands full". There are so many women out there that would LOVE to have their "hands full" and for one reason or another have not had that opportunity yet. I have watched from the front row as women I love have gone through infertility and miscarriages. These women being devastated month after month because all they really want is to have their "hands full". 

I know the challenges I face as a mom. The challenges I face with raising a daughter with special needs. The challenges I face with a 4yo that is VERY independent and logical and stubborn. So yes, there are days when I might look like I have "my hands full". But instead of looking at me (or any mom of any number of kids) and saying "it looks like you have your hands full" and bringing us down, maybe try another approach. Because that phrase can really bring a mom that is trying her best down (even if the intention isn't to bring her down), a mom that you have no idea what her situation is or what kind of day she is having. Words are powerful. You don't know if the kid in the shopping cart that has just smacked out at her mom has a speech delay that causes frustration and that's the only way she knows to get her point across. Or the mom that is taking 3 kids to the grocery store alone might have just had her husband walk out on her unexpectedly and has no other help. There are so many circumstances that we don't know or even understand sometimes.

Or maybe I'm just going to start responding to people with "my hands might be full, but not as full as my heart", maybe it will make that person think after they walk away from me. Because I can guarantee you that my heart is full everyday, even on the hard days, the days where I want to cry, the days where I feel like I have done everything wrong, my heart is so full, and I am so blessed.