An Architect of Sorts

I got an interesting email from a mom today (a generic forward)... It started with her recap of how as a mom you feel quite invisible most days. How often do you feel like you just take orders from your kids or 'wait' on them - serving snacks, meals, doing laundry, cleaning up after them, changing diapers (that can be quite foul at times)? If the kids aren't asking me to get them a snack or put a movie on or fix a transformer for them, they are bickering and coming to tell me what happened most of the time.

Anyway - the lady in the email was at a rare dinner with friends (one of whom had just returned from Europe). She felt somewhat sad when she saw the other ladies stylish clothing and realized she just wore what was clean and it even still smelled like peanut butter and jelly! The traveler gave her a gift - a book on cathedrals. The lady was somewhat perplexed and then read the inscription: "To Carol , with admiration for thegreatness of what you are building when no one sees."

When she read the book she came upon a revelation - no one built a cathedral and ever saw the entire end result. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

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. 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.