S U P E R S T A R S A T U R D A Y

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.  -William Makepeace Thackeray

Alright everybody--today's featured SUPERSTAR is Melissa.  She is an old friend of mine and I am proud to feature her today as a prime example of an ordinary SUPERSTAR, as she has titled her submission.   Melissa is one of the strongest individuals I have ever known--she went from being endearlingly called "Little One" to "Mommy."  Enjoy her story as a reminder of how we are all SUPERSTARS every day--and how we can inspire others through our stories.  As a reminder, I'm taking submissions for future SUPERSTAR SATURDAYS, so please email them to me at laura_anne_82@hotmail.com .  Enjoy!!

ORDINARY SUPERSTAR

Mama & Mia

I’m an ordinary superstar. I may not be amazing, but I am good enough. I don’t have fantastic travel plans to an exotic land, but I get out of bed every day and choose to be present in the mission field of life. Knowing I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, doing what’s been laid out for me to accomplish at this point in my life and finding contentment in the midst of it all is what makes me a superstar.

Steve & Gideon
Nice Decorah shirt!!

I’m married to my devoted husband and we have two awesome kids. I left my career as a nurse after my daughter was born in 2009 to be a stay at home mom (SAHM). Since that time I have become a birth doula and started my own business, picked up a part time job teaching Lamaze childbirth classes and I’m currently in the process of applying to grad school to become a nurse midwife. I’m a huge advocate for the rights and needs of moms and babies. My husband and I are also very active in our local church. I teach Sunday school, I’m an AWANA leader and I sing on a worship team. But my life is not all glitter and unicorns. Honestly, most days it’s a lot to swallow and I find myself counting down the minutes until bedtime so that I can sink into my couch with a glass of wine and watch past episodes of Modern Family.

Mia during summer fun!

Someone once said after the birth of my daughter “the days are long but the years are short.” How true that is, and it’s a phrase I repeat over and over in my head as I try to remain present and focused through eleventythousand toddler demands for juice, Elmo and Goodnight Moon, coupled with ear splitting tantrums and daily poosplosions. Parenting is not an easy gig, in fact, it’s the most challenging one I’ve ever had. There are a bajillion “expert” opinions on how to raise children, facets of parenting that are so polarizing they can turn the meek into rabid monkeys and ultimately, no matter what you do, someone will tell you you’re doing it wrong. And I won’t even go into the camp of people that wonder what SAHM’s “do” all day…but as a random fact, I plugged everything I “do” in a day into an online salary calculator and it estimated my yearly income around $115,000. Here’s the deal, people, I stopped trying to be the perfect mama a long time ago. Instead, I aim only to be good enough, and I’m cool with that. My kids don’t need me to be perfect, they need me to be real. They need to see me make mistakes, and fail, and say I’m sorry and try harder. So as long as my kids are happy and healthy, all the nay saying asshats can suck it. The rewards of parenting small children are few, but great. It’s the unprompted “please” and “thank you’s” from the lips of my toddler, and the sweet smiles and coos from my baby when he sees me walk into the room.

Baby G

Add keeping my marriage alive, running a small business, a part time job and grad school to the mix and I have an instant recipe for overload.

So where does the contentment piece fall in this chaos? It comes in finding balance. I make sure to take time for myself every day whether it’s enjoying a cup of chai tea, a walk, reading a chapter in a book, a shower without an audience or lunch with a friend. It’s also the quality of the time and not the quantity. It’s not easy to get a few minutes to myself, but I have to make it work for my sanity. Without this balance things start falling apart. I’m short tempered with my kids and snarky to my husband. I start feeling resentful of my life and wishing things were “easy.” My point is that I have to make an effort to be content, because if I sit around and wait for peace to find me there will always be 101 reasons why it won’t.

Proud Mama

Of course there are days where I lose my schmidt with my kids, argue with my husband, have no time for personal hygiene, my laundry room is spewing with two week’s worth of laundry that needs to be folded and we eat pizza for dinner, and sometimes these days are more often than I’d like. But just about the time I’m ready to give up I remind myself that I’m not perfect, but I am good enough…and then I have a glass of wine.

Please comment below to Melissa about her Ordinary Superstardom--and maybe another Mom you know who is your own Superstar!!  We are all proud of you, Melissa!!  And we all love you endlessly--especially the Waverlys.  :)  XOXO