Mommy, I need you to wipe me.

"Mommy, I need you to wipe me." I hear that so many times each day. Usually a couple of times for each potty trained or in training girl. The baby lets me know with her scent. I started thinking this morning, after my second wiping, how many things we WIPE as mommies. There's the after potty wiping, the runny nose wiping, tears that fall, hands that are messy after eating or playing, faces, messy tables, spills, boo-boos and of coarse the toothpaste that ends up all of the sink, walls, shower curtains, cabinets, and floors (how it gets there is always a mystery). All of the wiping can end up feeling overwhelming sometimes and that's when I wish for the ability to wiggle my nose or blink my eyes and have it done for me. Although it is very time consuming and not all that exciting or glamorous, wiping away messes and tears is such a blessing. What a privilege and honor to be the one to serve our kids this way. I love being the one to make the girls feel better when they need a cut wiped or to clean their little faces when boogers are smeared across them and their noses are red from the numerous wipes throughout the day. I wouldn't want to give that job to anyone else because it feels good to make them feel better. (It is nice, however, to have daddy do it sometimes when I'm busy with the other motherly tasks).

God wipes away our tears and wipes the pain away so many times in life. Isaiah 25:8 says, "The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces," and Revelation 7:17 says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." If God can do that for me, one of his many children, then I can do it for my kids with a happy heart and a smile. In the book of Luke there is the story of the woman who washes Jesus' feet with her tears and uses her hair to wipe them clean. What a perfect picture of serving without boundaries. I know that my job as a mom is to serve my girls with the goal of doing it as much like Christ as possible. I know He would never sigh before wiping the tears from my eyes so I need to make sure I don't sigh when wiping whatever it is that needs to be wiped each day.