Who Was Salome?

I woke up with a cold sore today.
Cold sores/Fever blisters, whatever you call them, are my body's way of saying,
"Danger! Danger! You are so stressed out your immune system is being compromised! Something worse will come soon if you don't calm down!"

Why am I stressed out? Oh, yes, the babies played a game I call 'Scream Tag' yesterday for over an hour.  One screams for about 5-10 minutes then I get that kid happy for about 27 seconds, then the other kid starts screaming as if the first child's silence was actually code for "Tag! You're It! Scream!"

Then in the evening Jonah got extremely whiny for no apparent reason, so I even documented it with a few funny selfies:

He liked seeing his face on the screen.

He wanted to hold the phone.

Attempting to grab the phone.

Then he threw up twenty minutes later.  Epic mean mommy fail.  I thought he was being a brat and so I was trying to not get frustrated and instead find the funny side of it.  He actually had a stomach bug and felt like crap. Poor little guy!

I put him in the bathtub where he proceeded to wail for about 5 minutes and then threw up again.  By this time the baby was very tired but wouldn't fall asleep on her own.  She requires swaddling, rocking, a sound machine playing 'Rain' loudly, and music.  Jonah wailing in the bathtub is not on her list of favorite iTunes songs for chillaxing.  So I had two screaming kids, all by myself because John was helping out at his nephew's baseball game.  At one point Jonah was wailing on the bathroom floor after I had gotten him out of the bath, while I was changing Karis' very wet diaper as she screamed as well.  I knew both babies wanted me, they both wanted to be held, and I just couldn't get them there fast enough.  Slightly stressful situation.

Plus, we thought we had a definite position in a ministry job, rejoiced and were excited, then the church decided to put the decision on hold and vote on John next month.  Back to life-in-limbo land.  Life spent in the waiting room while we hope and pray this position is God's will.

You may be wondering, 'What does your life stress have to do with the title of this post?  Who was Salome?'

Reading through my One Year Bible has been so fulfilling as a daily Bible reading plan!  This week the New Testament reading has come from the end of the gospel of Mark.  I read this verse today from Mark 16:1:
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.

I went back and re-read it.  I thought the only women who went to anoint Jesus' body after burial were the two Marys.  Who was Salome?  I have read the entire Bible twice before - cover to cover both times.  I have read the whole New Testament several times.  How on earth have I not known about this other person?  Who was Salome?

A quick google search led me to this great article about her.  She was the mother of James and John, wife to Zebedee.  Only the gospel of Mark gives her name.  Further reading tells about this woman who pointed her sons to Christ.  She did have a little too much pride at one point and requested her sons get to sit beside Jesus in "His kingdom," but she was thinking still that Jesus would have an earthly kingdom, and just did not understand.  When her mind was set on earthly things, she was not honoring Christ.  The rest of the time she was a devoted follower of Christ, and encouraged her boys to be the same.

At the end of the day, her greatest accomplishment was pointing her kids to Christ.

She did not receive accolades for the way her house looked, the organic food she prepared, or the amount of laundry she managed to fold and actually put away.   She did not receive any praise for holding screaming babies and being stressed.

She is known for wanting her kids to be close to Jesus.

Babies grow faster than Superman can fly.  I swear sometimes I put Karis down for a nap and when she wakes up I can tell her little cheeks are fatter! It's fascinating, beautiful and sad all at the same time. I love my kids more every day.  Parenting teaches me so much about God's heart, His patience and my flesh.  Jonah is almost two, and acts every bit of it.  He makes us laugh more than ever before as he tries to say new words, mimics everything we say and do, and surprises us by naming shapes, colors, and letters we had no idea he knew.

Southern Made Photography

Karis is 8 weeks old, can almost hold her head up all the time now, and cries a lot in between her adorable smiles and coos.

I have to ask Jesus to step in for me daily.  I don't deserve these beautiful kids, but I am given the opportunity of a lifetime to make disciples out of them. "Please move Kelly out of the way and put Jesus here to love these loud, screaming kids, because Kelly just wants to hide and cry."

At the end of the day, my biggest accomplishment desperately needs to be pointing my kids to Jesus Christ.

I should have been praying out loud while those two babies cried.  I should have calmly sang to them instead of rocking in silence, pouting and feeling sorry for myself, and wanting to cry.  I let my phone play worship music, but my heart was not worshipful.  I should have let Christ be the peace in my heart I needed, instead of allowing stress to build so much that it became visible on my lip the next morning.

I am hoping and praying to be a mother a bit more like Salome.  I have worked in the two days since beginning this post to pray aloud over my kids more.  We are putting Jonah in time out for screaming tantrums.  Spanking did not stop the crying, giving him whatever he was screaming about only showed him that screaming would accomplish what he desired.  The goal is to stop the crying, so we just stick him in his crib until he stops.  I ask him, "Are you all done?  Are you sorry?" Then I pick him up, give hugs, and he says, "All done.  I sowwee."  I say, "I love you. I forgive you."

More prayers, less pouting.  Point them to Jesus.