Mama Cravings

I'm stealing...borrowing (because imitation is the greatest form of flattery! :) )...my title today from a friend's blog (check it out!  mamacravings.wordpress.com ).  Her title has truly intrigued me because I have some definite cravings.  I crave laughter...Coke...chocolate and coconut...quiet time to read...the presence of people I love...and, most definitely, my children! 

I remember when I had to go back to work full-time in 2003.  It broke my heart to leave my precious little boys at home...even though God had blessed me with a dear friend who loved them thoroughly! (Amy, I will always remember those years you gave me!  And I realize it was a gift because you worked for  nothing! Thank you!) Those years I prayed for God to honor the mother's heart that He, Himself, had placed in me.  He gave me the desire...craving...to be home with them.  Yet, life had me working.  I cried many tears throughout those days begging for a way to satisfy my craving.

God answered with our precious Chloe!  He increased the depth of my heart and fulfilled a craving I didn't even realize I had!  I quit my full-time job the day she was born!  And, although I have continued working it has been in positions that have allowed me time at home.  Just not as much as I crave...

I have missed countless field trips, class parties and being in pickup lines after school.  I have missed out on the dream of having fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies on the counter when the kids get home from school.

Even right now, I am missing Jackson and Cameron's awards assembly at school.  I realize it isn't a big thing...and my sister is there with a camera...but I want to be there.  I crave the time to invest in my boys letting them know that I value them and their achievements.  Cravings are, at their core, selfish desires...even if they have healthy benefits for others.  A craving is something one desires from deep within.  Webster says it is an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing.

I have that longing in several areas of my life, but I pray with my children it isn't abnormal. :)  I have an intense desire to be successful in raising Godly children with strong work ethic and commitment to excellence in every area of their life.  I have an urgent longing to spend quality time with each of them individually.  I crave their love and respect. I crave their attention.

God created me to be a mother and I pray I honor Him with my cravings!