Invisible Mother

I received this e-mail from both my aunt and my mom...I really love it. It sums up exactly how I feel about my place in life!!


Invisible Mother......

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, ' What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated from college- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. 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.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

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.


Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does.
We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

What kind of car are you? I'm a Honda S2000

You live on the edge, and you live for the adrenaline rush. You don't need luxuries, snob appeal, or superfluous gadgets. You put your top down, get your motor revving, and take all the curves that life throws at you at full speed. So what if you spin out occasionally?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

The never-ending Honey Do List

Eric and I moved into our home sweet home back in 99. Since we have moved in our little family has put a lot of wear and tear on the house. The house needed a few renovations when we moved in, but since then the fix-it list has grown astronomically.

We have been pulling down old wallpaper for what seems like a month. But this past weekend the kids and I worked our fingers to the bone (literally) scraping glue off the wall. Thank you kiddos!! Then my mom came over yesterday (thank you mom)and helped me paint a portion of the kitchen. The kids of course wanted to "help", but they didn't last too long- thank goodness, because they were making quite a mess. I love the color- but despite our effort to tape off and mask- there was a lot of coloring outside the lines. So touch-ups are in order. Anyhoo- we will be painting the cabinets, and many more walls over the next few weekends.

My mom, who even brought dinner (bless her), was looking at our home fix-it list. It's posted in plain view on the fridge. After looking at it she just laughed. She said "Jenn, this is a lot of stuff!!". I said "Mom, that's only the first page!"
It's organized by room- and is a 2 page spreadsheet. Don't get me wrong- I love our house and I know we are blessed to have a roof over our head and warm beds to sleep in. I'm just ready for it to be more beautiful.!!

Poor Eric. He puts up with all my never-ending demands. But hopefully, one day we will accomplish our list. We have successfully crossed off 11 tasks! Only 134 more to go! hahaha-ugh!

Last day in Tokyo

Here is a recap of the last two days. Yesterday was the day I did my presentation. The turn out was amazing with over 10,000 people showing up. I did the laundry detergent presentation 5 times. It always gets a good response. During this presentation I stain a shirt and wash it on stage. Then I talk about surfactants and enzymes and such. Since everybody has to do laundry this presentation goes over well.
Last night after I was finished for the day I decided I was hungry so I decided to strike out into the city to find something to eat. I went to a Korean BBQ and ordered beef, pork and some veggies. At a Korean BBQ they bring out raw meat and you cook it yourself at the table. It was yummy and an adventure.
After a rough night I got up and showered and went to breakfast. Where did I go....You guessed it, McDonalds. Here in Japan the food at McDonalds actually looks like the pictures. It was really good.
I am looking forward to going home this afternoon. My bus leaves the hotel at 1:30 and the flight leaves at 6:00. I am really missing my wife and kids. I am glad this trip was short.

Good morning from Tokyo

It is Tokyo day 2 and today I will give my presentation. This trip the presentation will be about laundry detergent. I will give it 4 times today. In the past this presentation has gone over well so I am sure it will be good this time as well.

I woke up this morning at about 4:00 am and started reading emails. There are many of us who are traveling to various parts of the world. Some are in Australia, Taiwan and Japan. It will be interesting to see how business is impacted by having us out in the field.

My flight leaves tomorrow evening and if all goes as planned I will arrive home 6 minutes after I left Japan. Time zones are a freaky thing. I will update after the presntations today.

Yes it is true

Yes it is true that I am spoiled. Driving the Lambo was a once in a life time event. now I can say that I sat behind the wheel of one of the most sought after cars in the world. It was an amazing experience. It also had a very strange effect. I had built up such an expectation about these cars that no car could live up to my expectation. Don't get me wrong it was cool but now I have no desire to own one.

I would like to take a second and talk a bit about the blessings in my life. Just as Jenn said sometimes it take seeing our friends and family go through tough times to realize how blessed we really are. I can't even count the blessings in my life. From the blue sky to the green grass, from the food on my table to the clothes on my back, from the car I drive to the roof over my head and these are just a few on my blessings. I am thankful for everything from the soil that supports the foundation of my house the clouds in the sky and everything in between. It is true that I have my bad days when I don't want to be around anybody but those days are overshadowed by the days when I come home to my wife who always greets me with a kiss and the sound of my kids saying "DADDY". It is all worth it.

I am sitting in a hotel room in Tokyo and wishing my bride of 10 years was here with me. The next two weeks will be hard because for the next 14 days I will be home for only 2. Again I am blessed to have a job that allows me to travel but I still miss my wife and kids. Just think, in a few short weeks we will celebrate our 10th year of marriage. We will celebrate this anniversary in a very special way. You deserve to be spoiled Jenn.

Oh Jeeves- bring the car around. I'd like to go for a spin!

Eric has been working on some automotive products for work for a while. Gasoline additives and the like that improve gas mileage and reduce emissions. He has been working with a company in Germany to manufacture and market these products. Well today he got to go downtown and do a shoot (pics and marketing footage) for the marketing campaign to take to Germany in a few weeks. They rented a beautiful Lamborghini for the day. Here he is cheesing it up for the camera. What a job!