My Friend Japs

There are those friends we make when we are young that will forever be our friend. Sometimes we meet someone that is a friend for a while and then our lives take separate paths. However our friendships come about, there are some stories of friendship that will forever be a part of our memories.

Eliza has made a friend that brings a smile to my face every time I think about him.

A couple weeks ago as Brian was putting Eliza to bed they were going about their usual routine of storytelling. Usually Brian just tells Eliza some story and then tucks her in, but this was a special night. Brian insisted that Eliza be the one to tell the story. So she told him this elaborate story about being a princess and her prince “Japs”. Brian found the story so funny that he told me about it and about how Eliza was convinced that prince Japs was a real boy in her school. We just laughed it off.

 Multiple times over the next few weeks Eliza would tell us stories about playing with prince Japs at school. I couldn’t believe her imagination!

Then the day came. The day that I will not forget for a long time!

I was going with Eliza on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.

We loaded the bus and waited. What I didn’t realize was that another class would be coming on this field trip with us. As that class filed out of the school to load the bus Eliza immediately started screaming “It’s Japs! It’s Japs! Look mom there’s Japs.”

At this time I started thinking that she had a really good imagination and this make-believe friend must be going on the field trip with us. So I attempted to shush her as she continued to yell about her friend Japs.

Soon a little boy walked up and asked me to move so he could sit next to Eliza. He was very polite and I thought for just a second that maybe Japs was real.

As he buckled in I leaned forward and said, “Hi, I’m Eliza’s mom. What’s your name?”

“Hi, I’m Japs.”

I had about a million thoughts in that single second. Then I thought I must have heard him wrong. “What did you say your name was?”

“Dax, D-A-X.”

I know exactly where Eliza was getting the name “Japs” now. I found it absolutely hysterical.

Before I had a chance to chuckle Dax turned around and very politely said “Excuse me, Eliza’s mom?”

“Yes Dax?”

“I’m going to marry your daughter one day.”

He continued by saying that he had discussed it with his parents and that the girl he was previously going to marry wasn’t as good as Eliza. I just laughed and said we’d have to talk to Eliza’s daddy. I think I was still surprised that Japs was a real person and that he wasn’t Asian.

Since then we’ve found out that Dax lives just down the street from us. I haven’t decided if I should tell him the little boy a few doors down, that pees in my front yard, might put up a fight for his future wife.

Instead I just laugh every time Eliza mentions her friend "Japs". (She calls him Dax now.)

Rear View

Yesterday I had a very strange moment. I was driving my kids home from preschool and I glanced in the rear-view mirror. For a split second I felt as if I was living someone else’s life. When did I become an adult? When did I become mature enough to be a mother to these three tiny people? When will I be giving them back? It was as if I blinked and my life changed from being a carefree teenager to being a mother. Ever had one of those moments?

I read a fascinating quote in an article about motherhood this morning. The following quote was written by Joszef Cardinal Mindszenty in his book “The Mother”.

“The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral—a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation. . . What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this; to be a mother?”

I just kept reading the “a dwelling for an immortal soul” part over and over. It’s easy to read something as powerful as that quote and know that what I do all day REALLY is worth it. That those random moments where my subconscious tries to poke through in the rear-view mirror to convince me that it was better “back in the day” isn’t the truth.

I’m sure all you mothers out there understand what I mean by the never-ending cycle. Motherhood is this cycle of sometimes (ok most of the time) mind numbing duties that, like zombies in the night, we do over and over, day after day, year after year. Put them together and you have one heck of a job description, but separately they can seem like the most pointless tasks. I guess that’s why our job is not only the most important job in the world, but the job that requires the most prayers and aid from God. We simply could not do it without Him. I sure wouldn’t want to.

When I look in the rear-view mirror tomorrow, and I see those tiny little faces smiling back at me I’ll try to remember that I am in charge of forming them to become saints. That God is depending on me to be the very best mother I can be so that the souls that He created in my womb will one day be reunited with Him in heaven.

The Mom in the Mirror

Would all the perfect mothers please stand up. Are you standing?

 Yea. Me neither.

Don’t we all strive to be the best moms we can be? We try to do it all. Society has convinced us that we are not good enough unless we have the perfect children, are in perfect shape, dress like a magazine model, decorate like Martha Stewart, cook like Betty Crocker, participate in all these extra-curricular activities, and the list could keep going. Does it make us imperfect if we “fail” in one of these areas?

Our brains have been conditioned to constantly criticize that person looking back at us in the mirror. Let’s cut ourselves a break and be realistic for a minute.

I read an article recently that discussed how women need to stop judging each other and just tell a fellow mom “good job” once in a while. It encouraged us moms to reach out to the mother you see struggling in the grocery store or in church with a wild toddler instead of judging them.  Isn’t it time we do the same thing to ourselves? It’s easy to look at all our failures and all the things we don’t get done in the day, but let’s cut ourselves a break. It’s impossible to get it all done. That’s one of the joys about being a mother—we are always needed. Even when our kids are grown and gone we will be needed.

I’ve said it many times before, being a mother is the hardest job in the world. You can feel so completely worthless and wonderful all in one day. There are no pay days or raises. We just do what we do. Then we go to bed (sometimes with one or two children squeezing in bed with us) wake up and do it all over again. It is an endless job. An endless passion. An endless vocation.

So instead of knocking ourselves down because we aren’t perfect, let’s stand up, look ourselves straight in the mirror, and remind that person of how good of a job they really are doing. Then ignore some of that housework and go play with your kids, or read them a book, or color a picture with them, make a mud pie—because at the end of the day isn’t that what you want your kid to remember??

After a Long Break.....I'm back.

Ok, well not quite back. But I'm posting to let you know starting next week I'll be adding posts regularly again!!

I hope you haven't missed me too much. Until next week....don't forget your blessings, especially the small ones.

It Is Time

Home. Have you ever really thought about that word? It’s one of those simple 4 letter words kind of like love that means so much that books have been written about it, movies have been centered around it, and conversations are constantly going on relating to it.

Home used to have a very clear definition in my mind. Home was Zionsville Indiana, the Mike Einterz residence a wee bit out in the country (not so much anymore) where my family would enjoy family dinners and all 8 of my siblings would begrudgingly tell about their day at school. Home was where the kitchen always smelled fantastic because of my mothers cooking. Home was where I knew the streets like the back of my hand because I would train for hours on them in preparation for the next sports season. Home was where I would run into town and bump into multiple people and end up turning a 5 minute trip into a 45 minute trip because they just wanted to know how things were.

“We’re going home. I got the job.”

Was I supposed to jump with joy? Maybe I should scream with excitement? Maybe I was supposed to cry out of relief and happiness?

As Brian spoke those words I’d been longing to hear for years my emotions seemed to get stuck in the pit of my stomach.

I was so sad and so happy all at the same time. Truly a bitter-sweet moment. Why?

Bitter-sweet because now we have 2 homes. The life that we have in Oklahoma is one full of blessings. We have so many friends that we consider family that I can hardly imagine day to day life without them. It gives me a knot in my throat each time I tell someone else that we are leaving. We’ve been met with prayers and excitement though. Everyone is so happy for us and it makes this move just a tad harder then it already was.

Six years ago I moved out to Yukon Oklahoma with not much more than my clothes. Brian and I began our married life here. We have been through deaths and births together. We have become so strong together because of this place. Our family is the way it is because of this place. This place became our home. The memories that have been made here are not just memories but are true blessings in our lives.

When it comes down to it “home” is where your family is and our family is now being split between two amazing places. God has truly blessed us.

Saying good-bye is not going to be easy, in fact it’s going to be really hard-- but how awesome is it that we get to leave one home for another?

We left Zionsville as kids. We were so young and thought we knew so much. We’re leaving Oklahoma as a young family with a wild life ahead of us. There’s no more thinking we know what we’re in for. This new adventure is one that we’ve been looking forward to and that we will start with eyes wide open.

Thank you to all of you who made us feel truly welcomed. I couldn’t have written a better story for our first adventure together as a married couple. We will never forget you. You will always be welcomed in our home and you will always remain in our prayers.

As for those we’re coming back to--we can’t wait! We are so happy to bring our kids home to be around all our family. There are so many things we’re looking forward to that I could write an entire post just about them. Bring on the family fun!

　

What A Year...

Today I turn 28 years old. This morning I woke up, looked in the mirror and wondered where all the time went. Honestly, a lot of days I feel like I’m still 18 years old. The last 10 years have just flown by. I wish that this year would slow down just a bit, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be just as wild as the past 10. Maybe the infamous 29 will be the year for a slow down?

　

As I look around at my life I feel overwhelming joy at all the blessings in my life. I don’t need a single present for my birthday because life couldn’t get any better. I have a wonderful husband that works so hard to provide for our family. He loves me so much and takes amazing care of me and our children. He continues to surprise me and he makes me laugh every single day. I have three awesome children who are growing before my eyes. They have been blessed with tenacious personalities and remind me to enjoy the little things in life. Just last night Eliza told me that Jackson and her were going to make my birthday cake so I didn’t have to do it myself and spoil my birthday. I’m amazed every day at the love they give me and the love they give each other. I hope and pray that they continue to be such good friends and that they continue to develop into faithful and good-hearted individuals.

We have had our hardships and struggles but I have learned so much from them and I believe that I am a better person for making it through them. I know that life is just beginning, and although I’m not a big fan of rides--I’m strapped in tight for this one and I hope it continues to give me such thrills.

Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers and support. I don’t anticipate life slowing down any time soon, which means these blog posts might be few and far between, however I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated on life, and of course I’ll continue to share stories and opinions on life.
(I know those are your favorite reads anyway J .)

　

Remember to count your blessings--especially the small ones!