My Favorite Part

Part of the submission process I went through last week with my devotion for the NIV Mom's Devotional Bible involved sending Zondervan a short bio. They wanted to know in one to two sentences how many kids I have, my state of residence and my favorite part about being a mom.
When I read the last requirement I got playfully snarky and said, "Well, bedtime, of course!" But then I thought, You can't say that in a BIBLE! So I put some actual thought into it (Scary. I know!) and was delighted to discover what I love most about being a mom.

I realized the times I most enjoy are when I am seeing my children doing well at the things they love to do. Even though that sometimes goes against my grain.
For example, Elizabeth recently made this charming creation. It's a cake (Make that THREE cakes - frosted and stacked and frozen together.) which she carved and decorated to look like a squirrel.

There were chocolate cake crumbs on the table, on the floor and on the chairs. Frosting was smeared on the counter top and splattered on the walls. I think I'll still be finding chocolate remains for the next several days. And a messy kitchen is annoying to me.
BUT, to see the joy on Elizabeth's face when she was creating that cake! And her pride in the finished task. What a delight to my heart.
We'll continue to work on her cleaning-up-after-the-project skills. Until then, the pleasure of seeing her excel at something she loves is enough for me.

Then there's Joshua. My runner-boy. It's track season again and there's only one track for his mind now. (Well, besides fishing. But that NEVER changes, so I just take it as a given. *wink*) He is focused on breaking his old record for the mile, and being the fastest miler on his team.

He talks about it constantly. Wants to know what he should eat the night before and day of his track meet to get his body to perform at its best. He tells me his strategies - about how he thinks he can win the race and how he is working toward his best time. And after the race, he will go over the whole thing lap by lap telling me what he was thinking and what he'll do differently next time.
That's all great, but Joshua mumbles more than anyone I know. Half the time I can't understand most of what he's saying. And I wonder, If he wants to tell me all of this, why can't he at least speak clearly?
But then I see him running and my heart gets all excited for him and I quickly forget the excessive talking and mumbling. And I find joy in watching him run after his goals.

And THEN, there's Matthew. My little ADHD wonder. (Yes, I often wonder how we're going to survive ADHD. *wink*) Some days I swear that child could not sit still and stay focused if his very life depended on it. And I wonder how a person can honestly be that crazy. The random howls. The running. The forgetting. Again. It's enough to drive me over the edge.
But give that boy a set of Legos, and you would not believe the transformation which takes place. Suddenly he is still. And focused. And quiet. We gave him the Lego Star Wars Millenium Falcon for Christmas and he completed the whole thing in a matter of 1-2 hours.

He was so proud of his accomplishment. And, once again, it made me happy to see him loving what he was doing. And doing it well.

All that to say, this is what I submitted to Zondervan for my bio:

Karen Hossink lives in Michigan with her husband and three children. Besides bedtime, her favorite part about being a mom is seeing her children discover what they like doing – and doing it well.

How about you? What's your favorite part about being a mom?