The law of the harvest

The winner of the EnDANGERbles giveaway is Shannon!

Sometimes it seems like the harder I work at motherhood, the worse things get—the more the chores pile up, the less time I have for myself, the less I accomplish. But that might just be my perception. Yes, if I make a good effort to focus on my children instead of, say, the Internet, I do have less time to do the things I want to (many of which, let’s face it, just aren’t that important)—but when I make my children a priority, it makes life easier for all of us because they tend to spend less time fighting and tormenting one another for the sake of getting my attention. (Hooray for reducing the stress level of the whole house!)

I think we have all seen this principle in action in our lives:

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Or as we’re more likely to say today, you get back whatever you put into it.

Sometimes this seems to fail (though it could just be our limited perspectives), but sometimes our returns are waaay more than our investments. One example that springs to mind was one day when I brought a sandwich when I picked Hayden up from preschool. He found the sandwich in its bag and exclaimed, “Mom! You made me a sandwich? Thank you! I never been so happy!”

What kind of mothering activities pay you that kind of interest?

Photo by Jonathan