What I Learned About Life From Cows

Mornings at the Kidd house are usually hectic. It seems that no matter how much prep I do the night before, I still end up leaving the house with little to no time to spare. I wake my night owl of a husband and then get myself completely ready before I even think about waking the three little people. By the time I get out of the shower Ronnie is usually gone and I'm left to wrangle the boys into their clothes, make sure they have all the need for the day, get them to the car and strapped into the car seats. All while dealing with any meltdowns that come my way. Many days I am flustered or frustrated by the time I leave the drive. I often think of how nice it would be to be a stay at home mom and have a leisurely morning routine, making nutritious breakfasts and snuggling little bodies as they wake up to each new day. But let's be honest. I am not cut out for that life. I need to go out and work in order to keep myself sane. It's better for everyone if I go to work everyday.

A few months ago I noticed something that made me think. Since we live in the middle of nowhere I have a nice little country drive each morning that includes several farms and pastures. On one stretch there are cow pastures on each side of the road and many days when I get to the end of these pastures there are cows standing in each field just looking at each other. There are several on each side and they're just standing there. I imagine they're thinking, "if I could just get over to that pasture, my life would be great." Isn't that what we do? Continuously think that if we just had this or just did that then our life would be perfect. If I had a job where I made this amount of money, if I weighed X, if my kids behaved like this, if, if, if.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but from where I drive between those pastures there isn't much of a difference between the sides. The grass is thin, the fields are mushy and muddy from all the rain and there are several cow pies to avoid. No matter which side of the road those cows are on life will be the same. We've all heard the saying "the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence." And its true. We have our life to live and we don't need to waste our time thinking of the ifs and desiring what's on the other side. God has given us what we have and its our responsibility to enjoy our blessings.

When I'm a grumpy, frazzled mother driving my mommy mobile to all my various stops, I find it amazing that God shows me a life lesson in the cows on the side of the road.