Daily Kitten Chat Forum Topic: Invisible Mother......

Daily Kitten Chat Forum Topic: Invisible Mother...... http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Daily Kitten Chat Forum Topic: Invisible Mother...... en Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:01:23 +0000 AZDEBRA 5/27 & crew on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296472 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:03:04 +0000 AZDEBRA 5/27 & crew 296472@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Ditto to the above, it makes you sit back and think about those near and dear to you and what they do without being appreciated....thanks MerD :) Karenopa on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296425 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:14:44 +0000 Karenopa 296425@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Wow! Thanks MerD...That was a really outstanding story . It surely puts a whole new perspective on the importance of a mother's daily drudgery. LadyKat of IA on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296202 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:49:09 +0000 LadyKat of IA 296202@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Thanks for sharing this. feral on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296201 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:47:08 +0000 feral 296201@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Altho my Mom passed away many years ago, I still think about her all the time in present what she did & how she raised me. I tell her all the time not to worry. Sadly,I never had children to pass all her worldly teachings onto...unless you count the kitties...in which they can't speak for themselves. Thanks MerD...It was beautiful. petpntr on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296190 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:27:02 +0000 petpntr 296190@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Wow! I love this and appreciate so much that you forwarded it along. Much food for thought. KarenCentennial on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296186 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:21:08 +0000 KarenCentennial 296186@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Merd - that was just the thing i needed this week - THANK YOU! How is your daughter? I have been thinking of her and the sad loss of her friend. Arcalian on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296184 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:18:08 +0000 Arcalian 296184@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ This has been posted here before, when it was I forwarded it on to my mom and reassured her she was NOT invisible. SylMiaFelixMomma on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296182 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:17:26 +0000 SylMiaFelixMomma 296182@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Typing this through tears. Thank you for sharing this MerD. This goes out to all the Moms who do so much for their kids and these kids grow up to be really good people. MerD on "Invisible Mother......" http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/12221#post-296174 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:12:20 +0000 MerD 296174@http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/ Tear alert! This is for you....................:) 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 pair 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 sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is 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 wrap ped 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 everything. 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 affliction. 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 monument 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! Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...I just did. Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.