Are you a gift waiting to be given???

BLOG WITHDRAWALS!!!  :)

As my life is clipping along at mach-10, I keep thinking of all these random things I want to write about!  Life has been a serious marathon lately and I can't exactly tell you how, only that I can totally feel it to my bones!  The sheer exhaustion that plagues my body by this time every day is proof that I am completely out of balance lately!  Oh well, such is life, right?  I mean, c'mon fellow mommas in the trenches (or just fellow busy peeps!), tell me I am not alone...  ???  :)
Something caught me by surprise yesterday and I knew I had to take the time to jot it down today, or else misplace the feelings I had all afternoon and into last night!  While at swimming lessons, I had the pleasure of chatting with a pregger momma.  She wasn't just your average momma.  She was adorable!  In great shape, and if I had to guess I would've said, maybe (like MAYBE!!!) 6 -7 months along!  She was keeping a watch on her 2 kiddos in the water and I would pass her as I was making my rounds, keeping my own eyes on the 7 I had in the water (my 3 OS, and 4 borrowed babes!).  I couldn't stand it.  I'm a sucker for all things baby!  So as we were both watching our kiddos in Level 2, I couldn't help but smile and talk about her adorable baby bump.  She rubbed it and said, "only 5 weeks to go!"  Picture my head snapping, because people!- I didn't look like at 5 months let alone 9 months!  I smiled and we chatted more...  She said she hoped she stayed in there for 5 more weeks because her (as in the baby, as she rubbed her belly, where this tiny baby girl was growing) "mommy and daddy wouldn't be in town for another 4 weeks."  Ya with me here?  I was asking all kinds of questions in my head....  You know you are too!  :)
Turns out this incredible mom is a surrogate mommy.  I AM SO GIDDY WITH DELIGHT AND GLEE OVER THE SELFLESSNESS OF THAT GIFT I CANNOT EVEN CONVEY THAT, EVEN WITH MY CAPS!!!!  I myself have considered doing that for a few different people in my life, and honestly I just don't know if I was made with the correct wiring for such a service!  You really have to know yourself well enough to know you can carry this baby, feeling the miracle of the growth process, take care of this priceless package, deliver this sweet baby, let it be part of your family for almost a year and then hand it over to another mommy.  No dollar amount can ever compensate for that emotional process (we didn't talk one second about that fyi...). 
I was in awe of this mommy who has obviously taken great joy in being able to give this gift to a set of parents that have longed for a baby of their own.  She herself knows the immense joy that comes from being a parent.  Enough to want to sacrifice her own body and all that goes with maintaining a healthy pregnancy!  She even plans on pumping for this family for the 1st month and then continuing on with the milk bank for the NICUs until she is done.  WOW!!!!  Having donated to the milk bank myself, there is no compensation for that whatsoever.  That is 100% a love donation.  I was walking on air talking to this amazing woman, smiling from ear to ear!  I honestly said I didn't know if I was capable of such a gift, she replied "but I bet you give selflessly in your own ways!  It is what makes our world a better place for our own children!"  AMEN SISTER!!!!  DING DING DING!!!  She nailed it!  My mind swirled all afternoon thinking about her...
I went to bed thinking about how much I love to give.  Thinking about how others are motivated to give.  Selfishly, I love the feeling in the depth of my soul when I know that I have made a mark, and worked for Jesus.  No matter what it is.  Anything as simple as keeping some one's kiddos for a date night, a note in the mail, or something huge!  I have always felt that the more you did in secret the bigger the reward for yourself and in your treasure box in heaven.  In fact, if I am being honest, I hate to be recognized when I get busted for something I tried to do on the sly, because it is much more impactful in my own heart to know that something was appreciated.  I feel like if you have to tell someone what you have done, you have only robbed yourself!  :)  To see a smile and true thankfulness, that is worth a pile of thank you notes with no addressee on them...  Maybe you don't even have to see it, just knowing that there will be a smile is enough.

To the world, what this mommy is doing could have many different reactions.  To the couple getting ready to meet their beautiful baby girl in 5 more weeks, this mommy is the world to them!  What would our world be like, if we downsized our recipients and just focused on making 1, 2 or a few people feel loved on?  I'm thinking that hearts could be transformed on a regular basis!!!  So, ya, get out there and bless someone in secret!  Go do something that makes a love mark on somebody's heart!