“I did a craft! I did a craft!”
Did I just write that out loud? I sure did.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bragging. I’m not. The fact is I am NOT a natural kind of homemaker who makes my kids’ clothes, cooks organic meals, irons sheets, or even has any sense about decorating our home properly. Just writing that list alone makes me want to get back in bed and sleep for the season. I’m one of those reluctant homemaking moms–the ones who find jobs outside of the home because I need to feel good at something at least a little bit of the time. Craft time, for me, is like running fingernails over a chalkboard. But yesterday, I expanded my horizons.
My son’s fifth birthday is coming up next week, and I realized that his “spy party” had yet to be planned. My ordinary way of preparing for such parties is to make a trip to our favorite party store to retrieve decorations and party favors for the kids (favors probably making some crafty mom very rich). Much to my disappointment, however, the selection for spy-themed parties was limited. And I got desperate. I began to imagine that my son’s party was going to be lame and it was going to be because of my failings as a mother. He would talk about it to his counselors when he was older and being an awful husband to his wife. I had to figure something out. Then, the idea hit me. T-shirts. I’ll make “spy-in-training” T-shirts by simply using t-shirt transfer sheets. And they look pretty good, if I do say so myself.
I know what you are thinking. That’s it? That’s what all this ‘I did a craft’ stuff is about? Gosh, Krissie, that’s not even really a craft. That’s a t-shirt. And it’s not even that fancy. Give yourself a pat on the back. Geez.
Before you get snarky, though, you have to understand this sort-of craft did something for me bigger than creating a t-shirt. It reminded me of a truth for all of us Christian moms: we are not defined by who we think we are or who we’ve always been. We so often put ourselves in a compartment for the kind of person or mother we are. We may simply say we are moms “who don’t do crafts” or “who don’t cook” but we may also say we are moms “who aren’t too religious,” “who don’t do the mission thing,” “who don’t pray with our family,” “who don’t work with special needs kids,” “who don’t serve others without a paycheck,” or “who don’t like to get involved in evangelization.” Sometimes the desperation we feel when we look around our world, however, shows us that perhaps we are called to something new–and that our old compartments no longer fit. Perhaps we are called to a life led by Christ that takes us to new perceptions of ourselves.
Yes, being a mom who was semi-crafty for a day encouraged me to think about all those other compartments in my life that I’ve made for myself and perhaps reevaluate how I might expand my horizons for Christ.
What about you?
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