[kimmybutton]

Received this from a fellow mother in my email this am and had to share this. It is rather long, but well worth the read.

Invisible Mother...... .
>
> It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,
> the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone

> and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see
> I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone,
> or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the
> corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.
>
> The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a p air of hands, nothing more:
> Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
>
> Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a
> clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,
> 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around
5:30, please.'
>
> I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the
> eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude
> - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
> seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!
>
> One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of

> a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous
> trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was

> sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.
> It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling
> pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
> package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great
> cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me
until I read her inscription:
> 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are
> building when no one sees.'
>
> In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
> discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
> which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great
> cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave
> their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.. They made

> great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building

> was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everythi ng. >
> A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the

> cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman 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 workman

> replied, 'Because God sees.' 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, Charlotte. 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, 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.'
>
> At times, my invisibility feels like an aff lictio n. But it is not a
> disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my
> own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn
pride.
>
> I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder.As
> one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see
> finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The
> writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever

> be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to
> sacrifice to that degree.
>
> When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend
> he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4

> in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
> turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table. 'That

> would mean I'd built a shrine or a monu ment to myself. I just want him

> to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to
> his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'
>
> As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if
> we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world
> will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that
> has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
> Great Job, MOM!

[ginaMO]

Great piece, Kimmy, and so relevant for so many of us. Sometimes we forget that "God Sees". Thanks for sharing.

[Sherry Lynn]

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Number of downloads: 0 Wow Kimmy this is wonderful - Thank you so much for sharing this - I sat here nodding my head and reading!  bighug.gif (16.76K)
Number of downloads: 0

[Sarah in VA]

What a lovely way to start the day! Thanks for sharing this with us Kimmy!

Great to see you on the Board again. I've missed you!

[MaryJo]

Wonderful ! It sums it all up , doesn't it !

[Peppi]

Yeaah Kimmy, right, nothing to add. Thank you for sharing it.

[B&K Mom]

This is really lovely. It may need a place of honor in my Mom's Mothers' Day card.

TFS!
Debbie

[Shelbi]

thanks for sharing.
Michelle

[nicole_j]

That is a great one!!! Love it.l

[A-dab-adu]

Kimmy, thanks for sharing that!

It hits home for so many of us

[anna]

Thanks for sharing!

[kerryveale]

very inspiring, Kimmy! Thank you!

[noah's mommy]

wow. this really touched me. thank you so much for sharing.

[sheriL]

TFS - this is so wonderful, and definitely hits home.