Payday....

Yesterday my son was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. It was a Mommy "payday". Sometimes we have what feels like a thankless job...same things day in and day out. Cleaning up messes, fixing meals, cleaning up messes, driving carpools, cleaning up messes, being the disciplinarian..did I mention cleaning up messes?

But as I looked up at my son after his ordination and saw tears in his eyes and our eyes connected and I knew that he knew that he had just received an amazing gift and responsibility....it is ALL worth it. Every minute of that colicky infant who didn't sleep through the night till he was 18 months old, every minute of every ear infection we went through, every Family Home Evening where I was sure no one was paying attention, every night we read scriptures and kids were bouncing off the walls and I wanted to quit and bag it because it wasn't doing 'any good!", every minute of taking him to the eye doctor and having him scream his little lungs out when they would dilate his eyes to see if it was time to do surgery yet, watching him go back to the O.R. for eye surgery at 3 years old screaming for Mommy and breaking my heart....EVERY MINUTE worth that one moment!

But I didn't get just one moment yesterday, Heavenly Father blessed me with a few bonuses....I also got to watch him along with his Dad pass the sacrament to the congregation. I watched his Dad look at his boy with such pride and love as they "tag team" passed to the different rows. I caught his eye as he passed and winked at him and he got a huge smile on his face. He is a special boy and one that feels the spirit deeply.

Another bonus was when my 3 year old said, "My brother pass the sacrament to us...with his FRIENDS and with my DADDY! He is a big boy!" My 5 year old said, "I want to be 12 and be like my big brother."

Yesterday was a day filled with love and gratitude and humility.

Yesterday makes today's messes easier to clean up, it makes screaming children easier to deal with, it makes my mountains of laundry seem less daunting....those paydays are incredible and worth every second!