Living on the Border of Danger

My girl reclines in the dental chair. Her x-rays hang enlightened on the wall behind her.

"You need to wear this retainer," the man says.

Hard to believe two years had already passed, wearing braces. I didn't really want to get braces for this daughter because her teeth were straight, her bite was just off a bit. She had the cutest crooked smile. But the doctor insisted that her teeth wouldn't wear correctly, and she'd have trouble in her later years. But she had a gap in her front teeth for years, and I was told she needed this simple surgery to cut the gums between her teeth to allow her teeth to grow together. I didn't buy it. And sure enough, her two front teeth grew together over time without surgery. Why did she really need braces? We don't need perfection. My other daughter's braces came off months ago, and she constantly jokes that it looks like she's wearing dentures because her teeth are just too perfect. Too straight.

The dental assistant jumps up and runs toward me. "Did you hear there's been a mountain lion spotted in your area?" She shows me a picture on her phone. "The dog at Tiger Mart got killed" (this is where we refuel our vehicles, and the sad irony ...?).

I want to buckle over with grief. 

To read more, head over to my new website ... shellilittleton.com. I hope you'll join me. Life wouldn't be the same without you .... Just click on the link.

God Uses The Broken Teacups

Company would be arriving soon.

I evaluated the dishes through the dirty glass. Evaluating my options, I saw the good, and I saw the broken. Through my distorted lens.

I opened the door and reached inside the cabinet.

My fingertip circled the the porcelain edges, settling and lodging into the chipped surface, and I thought not to use that piece. Another dish had been pieced and glued back together. No good.

Cracks and lines showing. Stained.

They weren't good enough to use. They weren't presentable. I'd been told that all my life. Someone could get injured. Someone would be embarrassed.

Use the good. Use the best. Act as though you're serving the King.

My heart sank low. What if God never used the broken? What if we embarrassed him? What if He kept the damaged hidden away? Because of the way that it looked or the way that it felt.

What if He had the mind of man? My heart sank lower.

I've felt it all my life—I'm fake. I'm not whole, not good enough, not proper enough. I'm not deserving. I'm an embarrassment. 

To those who aren't broken.

Don't pick me. Don't use me. Don't raise your hand. Don't share your faith. Don't put her on display. She's broken. You're broken. 

Shelli, you're broken.

Your family can't be this or can't be that because ... you're broken.

She might hurt others. Being rough around the edges could hurt someone, inflict slight injury. They might think it's okay to be broken.

But He has the mind of God. Glory. My heart began to rise. And He whispered to my heart—I'm the glue that binds you. I'll break you, but I'll bind you. I'm the glue sealing you together. I've settled and lodged into you. Because I'm your all. Does that not make you special? Valuable? User-worthy and user-friendly? 

Like me.

Fractures and chips chisel character into your life, like a vintage home's crown molding.

And If the cracks cause others to bleed, maybe they need my broken and binding, too. You leave that to me. God whispered—maybe I know what I'm doing.

O Soul Within, who are you to judge who can and can't be used? Don't judge yourself, Shelli. Don't bully yourself.

God sees all. The glass is never too dirty for Him to see. He's sees the broken and unbroken. 

And He reaches for you.

He sees you from a distance, and He sees you magnified. God sees the whole picture.

He sees the lines, He feels the cracks, and He still takes you by the hand. 

Because what is real? Real is what you have to give. What I feel ... what I see ... me.

When the brokenness causes a resemblance to Him—broken like Jesus—place out the fractured, chipped, and the glued. Set the table.

His is the company we seek to please. We're serving the King.

Gratefulness in my heart had awoken.

We serve a God who uses the broken.

Scraping Certain Memories Out The Back Door

My grandmother never wasted anything, not a plastic butter container, not a milk jug, not a scrap of fabric. What didn't clutter her kitchen counters, cluttered her storage spaces. She didn't throw away anything, not even leftover scraps from a meal. Surely a sheer reflection of the Depression. Because a scrap of fabric could be used to make a quilt, a milk jug could store water for electrical outages.

Watching her scrape off the plates, all extra food going into a tin plate, is a sweet memory. "I'll throw it out to the dogs," she'd say, and wipe her hands on the front of her flour-covered blouse. When all the plates had been cleared and washed, the counters and tables all cleaned, we'd take the tin plate, heaped with food scraps, and head to the back door. The screen door would screech open, and the dogs would come running. There was no disguising or mistaking her scrap-pile... the dogs ran to it and so did the swarming flies. Stomach-turning remnants covered the ground.

Memories—it's what we bring into the storehouse of our hearts and minds. It's a precious commodity, something we keep. Something we hope to hang onto all our lives, until our last breath.

But we have good, and well, we have bad.

And sometimes it seems like the bad just grows and grows, like yeast has been added to the disagreeable ingredients. Just gets fatter and fatter, busting and bursting out the doors and windows of our minds and hearts. The guest overstays his welcome and takes up too much space. The guest gets bossy and decides who'll eat where, who'll sit where, who'll sleep where, and who'll need to make accommodations for the night. He pushes out all the good.

And he just eats and eats away at your nerves, your confidence, your faith, even your memory of good.

And we look around and see that our counters are covered and cluttered with leftovers, dirt and grime, and a stench that can't be described, unworthy of description. Even the cow-trails remaining are threatened. Leftovers needing to be thrown out to the dogs and the flies.

We can't always choose what comes in and out of our lives, but we can choose what stays, what stays inside. We can choose what needs to be thrown out.

Like standing at my front living room window, at only eight years old, watching my daddy drive away ... away forever from my family. Tears pouring out my eyes, I cried, "Daddy, Daddy, I love you." Oh, my daddy.

Like feeling the sting of rejection. The 8th grade boy who walked by my middle-school desk and said with a scowl, "You have long, skinny fingers. And your hair looks like Medusa."

Like grieving over a huge mistake. Only a kid and ruining my life.

Those are leftovers, throw-out memories. Not throw-away, just throw-out. We'll never be entirely free of them. But our good memories don't deserve to be pushed out the door. Our good memories deserve the guest of honor place at our table.

And O Soul Within, some ground-breaking news, that's what we'll make up our mind to do. We have to be intentional in this life, tend to the memories, because another has unhealthy intentions for us.

O Soul Within, gather those leftovers, one by one. The ones that stink and destroy. Scrape them into the tin scrap bowl of honor. Because that tin bowl deserves a place of honor, too. It's the temporary storage that keeps our counters—our hearts and minds—free and clean. Free of all the dirt and grime, leaving room for all the clean—the China, the teacups, faith, Christ-esteem, space, lovely space.

Take those steps, one by one.

Open that back door and bask in the beautiful sounds of the screechy screen—the gatekeeper to our hearts, the one that stays closed and only opens when you choose. Only opens when the bad needs to be thrown out or used ... blessedly used for good. Not used for bad. And that's why they aren't throw-aways because sometimes God uses our throw-outs. 

Scrape it out, sweep it out, let it drop, let it fly. Toss it to the bottom-land, like nobody's business. Let it stay. Let the dogs come, let the flies swarm. Because that's the back door. The scrap pile. No one else needs to go there, because it's nobody's business. Only your selected few come through there.

And then you smile, walk back into your clean kitchen, take a deep breath, and bask in the wonderful sights and smells of the new, the apple pie scent wafting, the fresh bread baking, the sun shining in through the front window, rays so vivid and beautiful you could reach out and touch them—

Like knowing your daddy loves you with all his heart and remembering how he tells you often, how you'll always be his little angel no matter how old you get.

Like being named Homecoming Queen your senior year, and the one who called you all those names wants to escort you.

Like feeling the tiny fingers and toes of your newborn, 18 years ago, and counting them one by one. And knowing your mistake may very well have led you here, to this child, to this beautiful place.

  

Like knowing with all your heart that God knows what's best and directs your steps, and even uses your past.

Prop open the front door, and hang the welcome sign. Bring out the white, clean tablecloth, unfold it a tad, and thrust it out. Open wide. Spread it out over the dining room table in your spacious heart, and place the best China because ... well ... it's time for a new meal, for a real meal, for a feast. A beautiful, clean, new feast. With guests of our choosing. Only guests of our choosing. Welcomed guests.

With remnants of love, blessing, and honor.

~~~

Do you have difficult, painful memories? Have you struggled with letting them keep a prominent place in your mind and heart? Do you have any thing you need to toss out?

Dear Me, Please Love Me For Me

Dear Me. 

I wake up feeling a frazzled mess. I look a frumpy mess, too. Hair going in every direction. My part off. Oily feeling. Bad breath. No make-up. Pale as a ghost.

I see you notice me. 

You watch the way I chew my breakfast—my "Mama cereal" as the girls call it, with fiber—probably thinking I'm chewing all wrong. I know I'll never get that tooth straightened out—the one I can barely chew on because it's so sensitive. I really can't help it. No, I don't have perfect teeth. Yes, thank you for reminding me that I ate too much sugar in my younger years. I regret that now.

You notice every new wrinkle. And you even have the audacity to say something to me about it. "Look at that new engraved wrinkle under your eye." You point at it, touch it, probably measuring it.

Why are you so hard on me? Oh, Me. 

I'm not young anymore. I'm standing in the middle of the road. I deserve to have a few wrongs that are right. They are right. God made me, so they must be right.

From my head to my toes—you know. Nothing escapes your scrutiny. Do you not have anything better to do? Why do you care so? 

You notice my every gray hair. I had a breast cancer scare just weeks ago, afraid I'd lose life and all my hair to chemo. And you're worried about gray hair? You even run your hand over my new ones, pointing them out. It kind of crushes my heart. You even encourage me to use black-and-white photos so that my gray hair doesn't show as much. I just had my hair highlighted for the first time in my life, thanks to you. $$$ I'm trying to cover the discolored. But to be honest, I'm thankful you don't pull my hair out anymore. That really hurt. My daddy's hair is totally white. He used to pull out his gray hairs, but he had to stop that or he'd have gone bald. I know the thought of my hair color permanently changing forever hurts the heart a little ... but if you pulled my gray hairs now, I'd be partially bald. So really, I'm glad you stopped that. Thank you very much.

Oh, Me. No, I'm not going blind. Well, yes, my eyesight is getting worse. So I guess technically I'm going blind. But readers are cute, right?

My nose? No, it wasn't broken. The x-ray showed it wasn't broken. And no, I don't have nose cancer like Ma-Maw thought. Yes, I did fall out of the bed once when I was a little girl, but honestly, do you think it's possible that my nose profile is the way it is because that's how God made me? I know that one profile side is terrible. I know. You really don't have to remind me. No pictures taken from the right side. I got it. I see you throw away pictures that accentuate that side profile. How do you think that makes a person feel?

My slightly deviated septum? Really? You're actually gonna go there? You see me use nasal spray most every morning. No, I can't help it. Yes, I have allergies.

That one dark hair that keeps popping up above my lip? No, I'm not growing a mustache. I'm a girl. I try to keep it pulled. But I just forget about it. This is all new. I'll remember. I'll try. I'll get it pulled and any friends that try to accompany it in the future. Yes, I'll try not to embarrass you.

My teeth. No, they aren't as pearly white as they used to be. I know. But yes, I've started using whitening toothpaste, and I even stopped drinking Diet Coke and coffee. What else do you want from me?

My neck. How could you point out the wrinkles on my neck? Aren't they beautiful? No, my skin isn't as firm anymore. But yes, when I hold my neck a certain way, the wrinkles aren't as visible. I'm trying.

My back. Crooked spine, I know.

No, my skin isn't creamy smooth like in years past. Yes, my arms are speckled like bird eggs, like my grandmother's and my mother's. News flash: it'll only get worse from here on out. We have fair skin. And maybe we spent too much time in the sun. I had a few brown spots removed the other day, causing sores temporarily on my arms. Face it, you didn't like me with the spots or with the sores.

And I've been working on my biceps and triceps. I've improved. I've gone from lifting 2 lb weights, to 3 lbs, and now up to 5 lbs. 

My pectorals? Now that's just cruel. But just between you and me, maybe the weightlifting will improve that, too. I'm trying to remedy the sagging. Stop nagging.

But could you just make up your mind about me? 

Could you just love me for me?

Don't you dare look at my stomach. No. Don't you dare. But you do. Don't you? I'm not slim enough. When I eat anything with fiber, you comment on the pooch. And maybe there's a pooch without the fiber. Okay, I'll be honest. But why? Why do you always have to look and comment? Can't you just keep quiet? Keep your thoughts to yourself? But no. And then you tell me not to wear those shorts or that skirt because they make my tummy look poochy. Really? Yes, I'm working on my abs. Haven't you seen me doing tummy crunches? I ride the imaginary bicycle most every night, on the closet floor.

Don't you dare say something about my thighs. I know you're dying to. I don't know how to fix the dimples there. If I run, I'll just end up needing knee replacements. My grandmother needed knee replacements, living years in pain. My mama had knee replacements. Bad knees run in my family. I'm walking. I'm trying. I'm trying to age gracefully.

Stop looking so closely at me. 

Stop inspecting me.

And my glutes ... stop it. I'm not 18 anymore. I know I wasn't very consistent with the squats. I tried to be. I really did. Six months or more. But clearly, you didn't notice an improvement anyway. 

Stop it. Stop it.

Dear Me. And you wonder why I have so many headaches.

My feet? Really? I can't help it that a toenail got crushed years ago. My baby dropped her full apple juice cup ... it's a sweet memory. My body is like a photo album full of memories. So stop picking on me. I keep my toenails painted in red to hide that nail. Ugh. What else do you want from me?

What? Is the roughness on my heels so horrific to you? So you bought me a sander. Stupid me ... I grew up thinking only wood needed sanding. Thank you. I'm trying. And I sand my feet Sunday mornings so I can wear my sandals ... maybe not as often as I should, but I'm trying.

Can't you just love me for me? Please?

Me,  you are so hard on me. 

God wouldn't be.

Dear Me, please love me for me.

~~~

Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. —Deuteronomy 28:14

Do to others as you would have them do to you. —Luke 6:31

You were ready to pummel "ME" for me? You were, weren't you? Thank you. 

How do we remain content with ourselves, when the world tells us we should look this way or that? Because how can we possibly accept others if we can't even accept ourselves? Regardless of our size, shape, status, or color, we all need to be loved. But loving others begins at home.

Loving and accepting imperfect others begins with loving and accepting our imperfect selves.

Enjoy This Time With Your Children

Everyone tells you. Every mother will tell you. Every grandmother will tell you—

~Enjoy this time with your children because they grow so fast~

As I sit rocking you, I ponder that wise advice. Though you didn't come from my body, I hold you close to my chest and feed you from the bottle, as though you did. I love these early morning hours, just you and me. I love how you watch me when you drink your milk. And your hands firmly grip the bottle, until you realize I have it all covered. And then your sweet fingers venture over to mine, touching, discovering the hands that hold you. 

With a full tummy, your sweet eyes close, and I lay you down in your baby bed. After patting your back, I notice the label on your little jumper sticking out at the back of your neck—"if they could just stay little." Little you. I tuck it back in place. I'll go fill another bottle to have ready for when you wake up crying.

I hear you crying. I rush toward your room with bottle in hand, my heart thudding wildly. I'll change your diaper first. We have an amazing routine going. 

As I turn the corner, you slip off your toddler bed and toddle toward me. "Hi, Mama," you say. You run past me to the bathroom in your big girl pants. "I gotta go potty." I do a double-take. What? Where? I remember what my best friend said—

~Enjoy this time with your children because they grow so fast. But each stage just gets better and better~

I fill your juice cup and screw on the lid. You grab on to that cup like it's your best friend and take a few sips. That cup slips right out of your hand, landing on my big toe. A few tears surface, but who has time for that? You scramble up into your big kid chair and start devouring the chopped carrots and green beans that you love. When you're done, I've got the perfect book selected—"Guess How Much I Love You." I long for story time—watching you select books and back up, plopping down in my lap. I chuckle, knowing my lap had better be there. 

I hear you say, "Mama, I'm done." Leaving unfinished dishes, I hurry over to the table to check on your progress, help clean you up, get ready for that story time. You look up at me, with a snaggle-toothed smile, and say, "Mama, I finished my cursive practice. I'm ready to read my book all by myself." I take away your half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich, seemingly in slow motion, remembering what my friend said—

~Enjoy this time with your children because they grow so fast~

The door creaks open. Are you done with school work? Maybe I'll find you playing on your tricycle or big-wheel. I hear a yelp and wonder if you've been hurt. On day one of school your leg got scratched outside, and you said, "I got hurt on my first day of kindergarten."

I rush to the door and sling it open. You two-wheel it up to me on your big-girl bike, laughing. And I don't even remember teaching you how to ride. Your bike drops to the ground. You fly past me. "I'm going to watch a Barbie movie. Princess and the Pauper is on," you say. The queen grabs her remote. My friend comes to mind. What did she say?

~Enjoy this time with your children because they grow so fast. But each stage just gets better and better~

Maybe you'd like popcorn with your movie. I love how we watch a movie together sometimes, or a cartoon—Little Bear or Franklin, especially on rainy days. We'll split a bag of popcorn. I rush to get a bag popped so I don't miss the movie. Maybe you'd like lemonade, too. 

I turn the corner into the living room. You've finished off a whole bag of popcorn by yourself. You fidget with the popcorn stuck in your braces. And an empty can of Dr. Pepper sits on the floor. On a sugary high, you stand and twirl.

~Enjoy this time with your children because they grow so fast~

Maybe you'd like your ballet outfit to twirl in, since you love dancing. I rush into the bedroom, open the sticking drawer, and pull out your pink tights, pink ballet shoes, black leotard with sequined skirt.

I barely get the drawer shut when I hear, "Mama, I need help with my hair." Maybe you're trying to wrap your hair in a top knot, like you do for ballet class. I grab bobby pins along the way. As I enter the room, a young man is slipping a corsage on your wrist, and you're heading out the door for a Homecoming dance. Wait. Did we even show him the shotgun? I re-position the diamond pin in your hair.

~Enjoy this time with your children because they grow so fast. But each stage just gets better and better~

I hear you thudding around upstairs. I paced the floor all evening. I run up to check on you. You're already in bed, tucking the covers under your chin. Make-up off, showered, teeth brushed. I dent the mattress edge, leaning in to you. 

"Mom, I'm a little nervous about starting college." Tears seep into your eyes. "About growing up."

My, oh my, I'm afraid to go to sleep and wake up. Where did the time go? I remember the baby that you were. When your tiny hand wrapped snuggly around my pinky finger. That was just this morning. And then I envision the lady that you'll be. Will you be teaching school? Or will you be taking someone's hand in marriage? I rub over your sweet forehead, brushing back the hair, and dab your forehead with kisses. 

You take my trembling hand in yours, holding firmly. 

"Don't be afraid," I say. 

~Enjoy this time with your children. Each stage just gets better and better~

Thank you to Karalee Littleton, Ronda Wetherbee, and Becky Wade—my inspirations.

When it's Time to be a Mary

The pain in my heart breaks through to my mind. The ball of pain rides every wave, pinging every emotion. I delete post after post. Nothing is right. Nothing I can say or write is right. The pressure in my chest tightens. Where is air?

Shelli, what is wrong with you?

I long for my grandmother. 

When life gets tough, when I want to cry ... I want my grandmother. 

I can hear her laughter on the phone. I can see and feel and smell everything about her. White Shoulders. Her tiny Avon lipstick samples. Bengay. Pond's cold cream.

She was my go-to person all my life. And my vision clouds over with tears. I want to sit in her lap and hear her say, "No matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby." 

But she's in Heaven, and I'm here.

Father, I feel an incredible emptiness in my heart and head. Do you hear me? Do you understand? What can I do?

And I hear my Father say, "Shelli Ann, come sit with me."

My knees cap the ground.

"You've been a Martha far too long, trying to avoid feeling. Staying busy to avoid feeling. It's time for you to be a Mary. Come sit at my feet. Remain here. And feel. Cry. Want me. Long for me. Let me be your go-to person. I'm the only one who has ever filled that emptiness in your life, in your heart."

My hands touch His knees, and my tears drip to His feet. I wipe the dampness on His feet with the only thing I possess--my hair. My focus returns to His face.

"Don't you see? You're missing me. Come to me. See and feel everything about me. Because no matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby."

~~~

Do you become a Martha when you hurt? Do you stay busy to avoid feeling? Do you ever hear the Father's reminder to become a Mary?

Dear Mary

One sitting at those precious feet

That will never be taken away

One complaining, "Tell her to help me"

But at Jesus' feet you did stay.

You saw He raised your brother

Surely heard water turned to wine

You would saturate the feet of Jesus

There was no perfume too fine.

You sat at the feet of Jesus, Mary

The distractions weren't a care

You poured the oil on His precious feet

And wiped them with your hair.

When a dinner was given in Jesus' honor

You let Him graciously pick up the bill

When others would scold, He said, "Leave her alone"

And your house He did fragrantly fill.

Mary, Mary, you chose the best

As Jesus would lovingly side

Because you knew in your heart, Dear Mary

Jesus would always provide.

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)

Dear Martha

One sitting at those precious feet

Listening to Jesus sharing

One is steadily working

Accusing Him of not caring.

You saw He raised your brother

Surely heard water turned to wine

Saturate the feet of Jesus, Martha

Is there a perfume too fine?

Sit at the feet of Jesus, Martha

The distractions will be okay

Emulate Mary; do the best thing

"It will not be taken away."

When giving a dinner in Jesus' honor

Let Him graciously pick up the bill

Take off those shoes; recline with Him

And your house He will fragrantly fill.

"Martha, Martha, 'Only one thing is needed,'"

Jesus would lovingly chide

Didn't you know by now, Dear Martha

That Jesus would always provide?

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)

When a Mama's Heart is Covered in Band-Aids

My heart joyfully, painfully broke. The first day I saw Little Girl in the flesh, the day she breathed her first breath, she had an infection and required a baby IV. She scratched her tiny face raw with it. From the bottom of my heart, the slight break began and inched its way slowly upward. And long before she had the IV removed and received her first princess Band-Aid, I placed my very first Band-Aid over my mama heart.

Little Girl fell when she was a tiny tot. Her mouth kissed a land timber against her will in our front yard. Oh, she cried. I cried. I placed ice on her sweet lip when she'd tolerate it, and I placed a Cinderella Band-Aid on my own heart. I'll never forget how traumatic the event was, but we were so blessed that she didn't lose any teeth or need stitches. Thank you, Father. After she cried herself to sleep, I laid her down in her sweet baby bed. I peeked in at her as she was waking. She eased to a sitting position and said, "Big." I nearly fell to the floor laughing over her remark. And oh, her sweet lip was so swollen.

Not long after that, Littlest Girl had a kidney tumor. It was the nightmare you imagine. And better and worse than you imagine. Littlest Girl had to be poked and prodded. Continual blood-work. Whenever the nurse would cover Littlest Girl's arm or finger prick with a Band-Aid, Little Girl wanted one, too. And she'd take and place her bandage on her sweet body in the exact same spot as Littlest Girl's. It was her sweet way of empathizing with her sister. And this mama would open the white wrapper to a Mickey Mouse Band-Aid and place it over her own heart.

As the years passed, boo-boos came and went. More bandages placed over this mama's heart. The thickness grew and grew, the colors growing wide and vivid.

Little Girl was at church one night. She scooted over on the bench to let a friend sit down. Before she could move her hand, friend sat down on her thumb. It broke. Little Girl was so brave. Her broken thumb didn't matter one bit to her, but her friend's broken heart did. We spent the wee hours of the morning in the hospital's emergency room. And this mama added one pink Barbie Band-Aid to her heart.

Little Girl and Littlest Girl are growing up. One's a senior. One just turned Sweet 16. Little Girl just got her first car. This mama's heart can barely take it at times. Every time my girls leave out in that car, without their mama chaperon, I walk into the bathroom, open the cabinet, and look through the assortment of Band-Aids before me. What will it be today? Winnie the Pooh? Superman? Hello Kitty? Hearts? Minnie Mouse? Tinkerbell? Disney's Frozen.

But that's what mamas do. Right? We love our kids. Through broken bones, broken toys, broken dreams, broken hearts. Because love always takes a risk. But it's the pain and the cuts and the scrapes on our hearts that turn it more beautiful, brighter, more colorful. 

And as the thickness of the bandages grows, the padding becomes softer. And with the extra softness, we're able to take a little bit more in order to comfort others a little bit more. Like ... to comfort our children. To offer a soft place for our children to place their head against our hearts as we hold and comfort them. No matter how old they get. And for one day to comfort our children when our grandchildren get their first boo-boos, or endure surgery, or endure disease, or endure stepping into the arms of Jesus. We never know, do we? One day to the next. We never know.

The mama heart never stops adding bandage after bandage. Peeling away the wrapper—that end of the sticky side, the other end of the sticky side—and placing it over the heart.

Because a mama hurts when her babies hurt.

Mama, this is your Shelli. Your Shelli Ann. Thank you for the bandages you've taken for me, taken for your grandchildren. Season after season. Thank you for your beautiful heart. Yes, that beautiful heart of yours, covered in layers of Band-Aids—bright pinks, greens ... princesses, tiaras, Eeyore, Mickey Mouse, hearts .... Thank you for the prayers you've prayed and the tears you've cried over me. For watching me walk out that door, for watching me take one step away from you, for watching me get cuts and scrapes and broken. You know all my secret broken places, all my secret injuries and scrapes. Thank you for all the times you've let me rest my head against your soft stack of Band-Aids and allowed me to cry my heart out. And thank you for all the times that you've placed the bandage over me and for adding one more bandage to your own ... 

To make a mother's heart ...

A mother's heart that is beautiful, bright, bold ... bandaged.

**

Do you have a Band-Aid story to tell? Maybe of your kids or animals. Or maybe a story of how you caused your mother to place a Band-Aid on her heart? I'd love to hear it.

And a dear friend's daughter survived a horrible car accident recently. We are praying for McKenna, who is 18. Her mama's heart is buried deep in bandages right now. Would you pray with us, too? 

Happy Mother's Day.