Building Cathedrals

Have you seen this piece?

http://www.justbetweenus.org/the-invisible-mother

It's about the sacrifices we make for motherhood and how we can sometimes feel invisible to the husbands and children we serve every. waking. moment.  

Here's my favorite part:

   ...In the book, there was the legend of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built. He saw a worker carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.” And the worker replied, “Because God sees.”
   After reading that, I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
   “No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, no last minute errand is too small for Me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become. But I see.”
   When I choose to view myself as a great builder—instead of Invisible Mom—I keep the right perspective. 

I really needed to hear that message today.  After a summer of chasing children and feeling like what I do day in and day out doesn't matter to anyone, I am reminded that it matters to God.  And though I long to see some evidence that my children are learning the lessons I try to teach them, like a cathedral builder, I may never see the fruits of my labor here on earth.

Back to school time is especially hard for me, as I am longing to be on the other side of the classroom door.  But I am reminded that God, my husband, and my children need me here for now.  I will get back to teaching, but not quite yet.  

Keep building cathedrals, moms (and dads, too!).  God sees.