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 summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s 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 yo u 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 spe n ding 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 w ill 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.

Great Job, MOM! Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know…I just did.
The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect
you; The Invisible Mother.

I am looking forward to the new week with the kids back in school and I am going to focus intentley on my Scentsy business and getting 2005 and 2007 albums finished. 

Things to finish this week:

• 2005 album (including Paris and London album)
• 2007 album
• Scentsy invites out (both snail mail & evites)
• Artfire account updated
• Scentsy fliers out to Realtors

Hopefully I will be able to post pics of my scrapbooking accomplishments this week!

Rules for Chocolate

• If you’ve got melted chocolate all over your hands you’re eating it  
  too slowly!!
• Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, and strawberries  
  all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want!
• The Problem:  How to get two pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car?
  The Solution:  Eat it in the parking lot.
• Diet tip…. eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It’ll take the edge  
  off your appetite, and you’ll eat less.
• If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that  
  a balanced diet?
• If you ever wondered why there is no such thing as a Chocoholics  
  Anonymous, it is because no one wants to quit eating it, ever!
• Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.  Therefore; you need to eat a lot more chocolate.
• Put “eat chocolate” at the top of your list of things to do today.  
  That way at least you get one thing done.
• A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of  
  calories in one place. Now isn’t that handy!
• If you can’t eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But  
  if you can’t eat all your chocolate, what’s wrong with you????
• If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top  
  pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated.

And my Favorite……

• CHOCOLATE IS A VEGETABLE!   Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans.      Bean = vegetable

I have organized my scrap room as best as I can….it is too small of a space for what I really want, but until we find our perfect home, it will work for now.  I am trying to be more positive and just focus on the task at hand—-getting caught up!!!