Van Gogh, Kafka, Bach, Thoreau, Monet, Vermeer…
They were all artists who died without having received the worldly accolades they craved and even deserved.
I’m certain they spent sleepless nights at their craft and countless hours honing their skills only to be told that their work was worthless and less than beautiful.
We look at their works now, paintings from Van Gogh, Monet and Vermeer, words from Kafka and Thoreau, and nocturnes that soar, “Soli Deo Gloria” by Bach, and we wonder, shocked, how their gifts could have been overlooked.
Sometimes we miss the art that is right in front of us.
I gaze down at her brown eyes and I see them shimmer mischief back up at me – and I know that it is going to be a long day. It will be a long day of wiping up messes and wiping tears from cheeks, and in the midst of all the demands, the color can drain out of life and the rhythm can get completely lost.
One particular day she had decided that 4:30 am was a proper hour to rise for the day. No amount of rocking and soothing would lull her back to sleep, so I did what any mother who is a stickler for proper child rearing would do; I turned on Netflix.
By lunchtime she was a hot mess and consequently so was I, and yes, that is my copy of A Million Little Ways that suffered vandalism at the hands of a toddler with a highlighter.
The final meltdown came when she was denied a “big girl” cup of water. I looked at the collapsed puddle of screaming toddler known as my daughter and scooped her up, proclaiming that it was naptime!
Then her protest really began. She screamed. I sang. She screamed louder. I sang louder and for ten minutes we did our own version of American Idol and then, good golly goodness, she passed out.
I realize that other mothers would have approached the situation differently. I’m not making an assertion about my handling of a toddler tantrum. I don’t think that scream-singing at your child is necessarily the best way to handle all problems, but maybe it is the best way to handle some. Ask me in about sixteen years.
Snot wiper, diaper changer, costume sewer, dish washer, problem solver, lunch packer, field trip permission slip signer, personal shopper, toilet scrubber, science project creator, bake sale organizer…and the list of what we mamas do all in a days work goes on and on, but rarely among our titles and tasks do we see the words “artist” or “creator.”
God creates life, but it is within motherhood, both our hearts and bodies, that He chooses to grow children. We are artists who share in the intricate work of creating little people with God. It’s about time we start seeing ourselves the way He does.
Far too often we diminish the work that we do. We turn the everyday work of motherhood into a list of tasks and when we don’t check off all of the tasks, we feel like we have failed. We preach lies to ourselves and insinuate that our children would be better off with Susie Homemaker down the street and her perfect brood of impeccably mannered children.
“There are no greener grasses, only different lawns. When it’s hard
to show up because I hate my calling, it helps me to rehearse what I
know for sure – God has made me. God is remaking me and God wants to come
out of me in a unique way.” (Emily Freeman, A Million Little Ways, pg. 140-141)
The Creator God says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made – and so are our children. He has made no mistake by making mamas out of each of us. He places the orphans among families and whether we are biological or adoptive mamas, He has chosen us and our children and matched us perfectly.
The God of the universe has given you everything you need for life and Godliness and that includes those littles tugging at your pant leg, and the teen hold up in his room, and the adult child making a life clear across the country.
I don’t know exactly who the artists were that Van Gogh and the others didn’t match up to during their lifetime. What is true is that when the critics said they had it all wrong, they kept making art. And all I know is that their art didn’t suddenly become more beautiful after they were dead.
Their art was always beautiful; it just took the right eyes to see.
What if we could see ourselves not as wipers of tiny bottoms or herders of children-shaped cattle, but as artists with immense influence not solely on the generation we are raising, but on generations to come?
You don’t have to be a mama just like the mama down the street. Your mothering style might look more like paint by number than a Rembrandt, but it is your style unique to you nonetheless. The way we mother is as individual to who we are as our children are individuals.
The real art of motherhood is seeing yourself as an artist.
You are an artist with a perspective and palate that only you can offer to your children. We do a disservice to our children when we try to emulate another mama or parent by this book or that technique.
How do we paint broad authentic strokes on our individual children’s lives? As Emily says, “Show up human. Show up authentic. Show up right where you are with two feet on your Tuesday.”
Remember that you are making art as a mother and though that art might be little recognized in your lifetime and seemingly mundane in the moments, it is nevertheless stunningly beautiful as long as you have the right eyes to see.
How do you struggle to see the art in the mundane of motherhood? Do you see your day-to-day as the work of molding and shaping generations?
I’m giving away two signed copies of A Million Little Ways over on my blog so head on over and enter to win a book that is certain to change the way you view yourself, your callings and your everyday.
Jessica Leigh Hoover is a wife, mama, writer and grace lover. She lives in the hills of North Carolina. She is also a birth doula who loves chocolate, {hot or iced and always sweet} tea, British dramas and heaps of good conversation. She loves a good story and writes about her belief that grace is the biggest kind of brave.
Art in Community ~ A round-up of YOUR artistry!
1. Amy Kinard on Instagram
2. Christy, Lane Letters
3. Alissa Millsap on Instagram
4. Melody McWilliam via email
5. Ashley Mafima on Twitter
1. Sarah Jo, Sarah Jo Knits baby!!
2. Rebecca Patterson via email
3. Kelli, sunflowerlayne on Instagram
4. Becky, Buckets of Burlap T’giving table
5. Deanna, The Pure Sacrifice
1. Katie Cannon, A Southern Lady’s Designs
2. Lifesongs on Instagram
3. Sonya, Sonya Mac Designs
4. Kelli McKnight, The Story
5. Loretta, Dancing on the Dash
6. Ronda Cowen on Twitter
Please be sure to continue uploading YOUR images to Twitter and Instagram! We’re thrilled to feature our Bloom {in}courage community living and creating art! Tag with #inbooks and #AMillionLittleWays so we can find them.