The Joys of Being Mom

It was day two of orientation when I was dubbed “Mom.”

I had no time to object. I couldn’t escape it.

How are you doing, Mom?

Goodnight Mamma!

Mamma Peddy, what are we doing next?

I just need a hug, Mom.

11 little children of all shapes and sizes. And by little, I mean from ages 19-24.

On the 9-hour flight to London, two of them colored me a picture. How will I choose which one to stick on my fridge when I get home??

It didn’t really hit me until early this past week what all comes with being the mom.

One night we decided to play a game called Mafia. We all draw from a small deck of cards and, if you get the King, you are the mafia. We turn out the lights and the game begins. The mafia must go around and slice the throats of everyone else. The person who dies must never make a sound; simply fall to the ground and wait for someone to step on them, errr..find them. When a body is found, the lights turn on and we all guess who the mafia is. If correct, we start the game over. If wrong, those accused plus the dead person must sit out the next round. If the mafia is good, he or she will end up killing everyone. If bad, they’re out the first or second round.

Let me just say one thing: IT’S FRIKEN DARK IN ROMANIA.

We didn’t realize how dark it was until we turned off all the lights.

All of us girls screamed. Very, very loudly.

We hadn’t even started the game.

Once we did finally start, I quickly found a spot behind the couch and never moved. I knew that if I was even halfway grazed by someone or something, a death scream would escape my mouth.

Numerous terrifying rounds went by.

During the middle of about the twentieth game, hallway lights came on outside our little intern apartment. Then a knock on the door and a message was exchanged from Audi, the worker that lives here, to one of our boys.

All I know is Steph looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights look and said, “the doors were open.”

WHAT?!

The guys left the apartment in a hurry.

THEY LEFT US DEFENSELESS.

I jump on the couch and immediately Steph was on one side and Michelle on the other. I put my arms around each one and silently prayed that the Lord would keep us from being kidnapped.

That’s when it hit me: they ran to ME, they knew I would bring them comfort and be a temporary safe place.

Holy cow. Talk about pressure.

To ease all of your nerves, what Audi meant by “the doors were open” was simply that they had been left unlocked and he wanted to show the boys how many doors needed to be locked before we went to bed.

No, the boogie man wasn’t after us like we thought.

But if he had, I would have stuck my finger in his face and chewed his little gypsy booty out!

The next morning during my quiet time, I desperately cried out to Jesus, asking for guidance and strength. I know what it’s like to have little kids look up to me, but never “kids” that are my age. Being Mom means I have twenty-two other eyeballs watching my every move, good or bad.

That’s a whole heck of a lot of pressure.

I can’t help but feel at home, though. While I love to act annoyed, it absolutely fills my heart each time they come to me with genuine concern or teasing remarks. The other day, I cooked spaghetti while everyone was in the “living room” playing cards. I smiled to myself, this is AWESOME. My little children are playing while I cook them dinner!!

Every time I think about what I want to do when I grow up, I picture myself being a mom to a million faces, big or small, black, white, purple, turquoise, or red.

I want my home to be a place where they can come to for comfort and know that they are safe.

I also want them to know what it’s like to be loved, and not just by me.

By Jesus Christ.

He is the ultimate source of protection and comfort. He redeems us from the pit and crowns us with compassion and love (Psalm 103:4).

He crowns us.

Do you understand what that means?

We are princes and princesses. We are heirs to Christ, adopted by the most amazing King anyone can dream of.

We are all worthy of love, protection, and comfort because we are His. We can go to our Father with every question or concern, knowing with full confidence that He will faithfully answer us.

The more that I learn about the Lord, the more my heart overflows with thankfulness and joy.

I am pretty sure that there will be times this summer that the pressure of being Mom will get to me, mostly because I seem to enjoy putting too much pressure on myself for some crazy reason.

But I also know that while others are looking to me for guidance, I will have Someone I can look to for an answer. When my strength and patience runs dry, I have the Ultimate Source to put a little more gas in my tank.

I just hope they never ask me to wipe their butts or ask where a baby comes from.

Father, thank You so much for hand picking each one of us and bringing us into Your kingdom. Thank You for your immeasurable love, protection and comfort that satisfies us in ways that nothing, or no one, else can. God, I ask that You will place Your gentle hand over each intern and guide them as they go through the summer and this crazy little thing called life. And thank You, oh so much, for blessing me with the role of Mom. Give me wisdom when they need an answer, compassion when they are hurt, and comfort when they feel like they just can’t make it through another day. You are so good, Daddy. I just love You so!