Doing Small Things with Great Love

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.
~ Mother Teresa

I often got angry when I would get sick or hurt. Not that getting mad helped.... But as the hub of my family, when I go down, we all go down. The house gets messy, outside activities stop and I can't give the kids what they want or need, let alone do what I want to do.

Now, though, I try harder to look for any silver lining – the good that can come out of a circumstance. One such outcome is that it looks like my 13-year-old son is growing up to be a compassionate man. His experiences with me as his mother just may help mold him into being a great husband some day. (His wife can thank me!)

A couple of weeks ago, I had a horrible day at work and my kids and I were all dealing with various stages of heavy chest colds. My son called me after he got home from school, and we conversed only the necessities, as my voice was mostly gone.

“Mom, do you just want to plop on the couch when you get home?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I croaked. “That sounds nice.”

“Okay, then, you do that,” he answered.

When I got home an hour later, this guy had my favorite pillows, fuzzy blanket, and heating pad all set up for me on the couch. He told me to go lie down, and he made me a cup of tea. I didn’t ask him to do this. And it was no fluke. The next morning, he got up early before me (a rarity!) and went downstairs, where he started the coffee and breakfast.

Now, of course, he has his moments of being a regular, sometimes ornery teenager. He’s doesn’t have a halo around his head, but you won’t hear about the difficult stuff here. He is a blessing. And he does a pretty good job as firstborn, taking care of us when I can’t.

I wish I could give him the world. Outside of that, there's so many other things I wish I could give him, including the coolest phone, camera, and other gadgets he sees in the commercials. But if my son had everything he’s always wanted, I wonder...would I have what I want in a son? Learning to wait and to do without can also be a good thing, and happiness is a point of view....