Amy Russell

State bound

Formal West Cross country results Girls were regional champs! Boys placed 4th and move on to Sectionals

The Girls are off and running

THE BURDEN OF MOTHERHOOD. The heaviest weight of motherhood has been my own selfishness. And my children have been liberating me ever since my first wave of pregnancy nausea 27 years ago.⁣ ⁣ They have not taken away my freedom. They have not added obstacles. Instead, they interfere with all that would keep me shallow and would rob me of the opportunity to go deeper.⁣ ⁣ All those times when others made me feel small for having my little army with me...⁣ ⁣ They just didn't know that all the boredom, fatigue, worry, frustration, and limitation of the days of a mother are really a slow opening of an interior world that might otherwise stay closed to someone like me.⁣ ⁣ And I’d rather feel the birth pangs. Even when it seems intolerable.⁣ ⁣ During family prayers, the kids often thank Jesus for their parents and a loving home. Someday when they are older—maybe with their own kids— I’ll tell them the secret... ⁣ ⁣ That I never knew what I was doing. That I was broken and ugly. But that God used my children to piece me back together and heal me, to make all things new and beautiful. ⁣ And I’ll say “See? You are a miracle. Not because you are mine but because you are His. And he made you for me. But in a very different way than I thought.”⁣ ⁣ It is a great temptation to use children to satisfy ego. "Look what I made!" But truly... they have unmade me. Their lives are extraordinary. And this is how we sanctify each other.⁣ ⁣ That and being the hands and feet of Mercy.⁣ ⁣ I once asked the kids what they thought about the shocking reading when Christ says he comes to bring division. And one child said...⁣ ⁣ “He comes to interfere with our sinfulness. And that feels like He is destroying something. But He’s really making it new.”⁣ ⁣ Amen. The day I learned that was the day that the burden of my motherhood became a stepping stone to grace.⁣ Thanks be to God.