Mother Teresa, Pray for Us

We are at Jesus' disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that's all right, everything is all right. We must say, "I belong to you. You can do whatever you like." And this ..is our strength, and this is the joy of the Lord.

-- Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

I love these words of Mother Teresa's so much that after a rough weekend (dreams of fun dashed by moods and vomit -- except for the part when Lady Charlotte brought me strawberry plants -- but that's another post) I'm adding a few of my own. Here goes:

I am at Jesus' disposal.

If he wants me me to put up with my husband's crabby mood & his short-comings, focusing on his better side just as I'd like him to focus on mine, that's all right.

If he wants me to take care of my children with a thankful spirit, even when I have days that are monotonous, boring and insanely isolating, that's all right.

If he wants me to be pleasant, or at least polite, even when the work of mothering seems overwhelming, exhausting and unfair, that's all right.

I will say, " I belong to you. You can do whatever you like." And this is my strength. And this is my joy in the Lord.

And while I'd like to think I'd work with all my heart for the Lord if he had called me to a life of service like the one Mother Teresa had -- literally, clothing the naked and feeding the hungry ...

Oh wait -- I do that!

Well, maybe I'm not in the slums of India -- but I certainly dress my share of nude little bodies.

It just seems like if I was wearing a habit and literally scraping maggots off lepers, rather than crusty, mystery food off highchairs, I'd recognize the nobility of my calling quicker. Quicker. So much quicker.

Mother Teresa, Pray for Us.