Handprints, Impressions, Crossroads

                                                  

                          Handprints, Impressions, Crossroads   

    

 

           We often find ourselves at Crossroads like the photo shown above. Often these crossroads are places we have walked past hundreds of times.  The crossroad shown is one of those that has many crossroads going in different directions - sending kids off on buses and waiting for kids to come home.  It is a place I spent many hours. I wanted a picture to remember those times of waving goodbyes and kissing the kids hello or walking in the snow or in the heat, and waiting at these crossroads that were a part of my everyday routines.

Other times we find ourselves at a crossroads that we will only pass through once with decisions to be made  - as in the poem, “The Road not Taken”, by Robert Frost.  These crossroads, unlike those we pass through multiple times a day,  are ones we often find ourselves at, and that will change our story by which path we choose to take. These crossroads are not as familiar but often lead us to where we want to be in the future. 

         I sometimes find that in a day we have small moments that become crossroads of connection with our kids, but also the opposite at times with the world pulling us in different directions.  It is hard to take on all these small connections, as we can find ourselves distracted from these things. At times we find ourselves thinking, “I can do more, I can be more, I can have a  better influence on my children or teens”   I find my heart wanting to leave impressions that will last - and not just fade with the roads or paths we take. 

Are we helping our kids chart their own decisions and choose the crossroads we want them to be at?   I look at my kids and mostly feel super proud of them for who they choose to be and the examples they set but I also look at them and think, “Wow!  They are  growing up too fast!”  And I ask myself, “Have I done enough?  Have I taught them all  they need to know?”  I often have these ups and downs in my heart. One day I felt these real emotions of wondering if my kids were still old enough to have my influence on their hearts, as they are growing taller than me, yet I still feel they are young in their hearts, still teachable, still vulnerable, still learning still soaking in the good and sorting out the bad. But on days I find them lost in a world of electronics or books, I wonder if there is room to still be touched by a mother's heart. 

  One day as I felt the weight of all of this while watching my kids grow up around me,I found that answer as I looked out my patio window.  Through the glass, I saw one small handprint on the window. I looked closer and saw that it was my daughter's handprint. My heart paused.  It's not often you find a handprint with the kids now older. Then it all came back to me: the many tiny handprints that had been on the window and doors … and I thought when they were little, I would never be able to keep the prints off the walls and windows. …  Handprints …  often left with sticky fingers or paint now - are a memory of the past most days.

That small moment of seeing my daughter's handprint caught my breath and I quietly put my hand to that handprint, now not so tiny ... yet not so big …  but a sweet reminder.  As long as our kids are still close, and even when we’re far, we can have influence if we desire to keep loving and keep teaching. Our influence is not gone just because the distractions of the world are there in every direction pulling them in with games, electronics, and phones.

There in that moment, Heavenly Father showed me in a simple handprint left by my daughter that Mom's influences are real, they are needed, and that those impressions we leave will be on our children's hearts now and forever.....

                        

             To each of your mamas and others who wonder if your kids are too big or have outgrown that influence, remember those small handprints, … remember those hands in yours, … remember when you had influence......but trust that you still do.  Know too, that our kids grow and make their own decisions and will find themselves at crossroads of their own ... and that love - a Mother's love = can and will always be part of what helped them grow. … Sometimes this means taking time to see them more in their day - to come out of our world - often also crowded with noise from the world,  or in posts on social media, or other distractions.  We also have to choose to be more present in their world. Sometimes it will be a simple moment of connection in the day that will remind you they are still close by and still teachable … that those small and big moments really do matter.

In my family, we always watch as the sky lights up at night behind our house and then we all grab our shoes quickly and run behind our house to see the sunset. One night my youngest daughter and I watched as the house lit up in pinks and blues.  The blinds were closed but we could still see the colors shining through.  We knew it was sunset time and it was going to be beautiful as the house was glowing with a pink glow of light.

 Everyone else was busy so my daughter and I rushed out to see the whole sky lit up in pink.  It was beautiful and breathtaking, to see the clouds in pink and the sky glowing.  We only saw it for a second, but it left an impression on my daughter. The next day my daughter wrote her testimony for Church.  It was simple and sweet and talked about going out to see the sunsets and that night seeing the sky all pink. She said, “I could just feel it all around me - the pink glow and Heavenly Father's love.  … I knew that it mattered.  It was so simple but it left an I. Pressure on her, she was there in that moment with me and she felt that memory in her heart.....

            You are enough! I am Enough! We are Enough. Yes, you matter! Yes, you make a difference.  And yes, you will leave an impression on those little ones and on those big ones who now are bigger than you and are looking you in the eye. …  They are still close.  They are still there waiting for those impressions you can and will leave on their hearts.

-Joyfully Jenae