Today is the last day of my maternity leave and my baby is in daycare so I took a drive to Jerusalem. On the drive I took in the sights, the forested hills on the outskirts of Jerusalem, David’s Harp bridge, all the Jerusalem stone. The sights reminded me to not forget the forest while bogged down in the trees.
When you’re a working mom of three, there are a lot of trees. Work, the house, every kid comes with their own mini forest of trees. Fevers, teething, potty training, social anxiety, trouble with boundaries. Cleaning, cooking, doctors appointments, errands. With all those trees it’s easy to forget the forest. That we as a nation have come home after 2000 years of exile. That I was able to do that on a micro level and make the choice to come home. That my daughters will never have to make that difficult choice, that they were born in their homeland and are growing up among their people.
Sunday I go back to work. These past 7 months my trees have been entirely focused on my home and family and now I need to readjust to adding work trees. I’ve naturally been apprehensive about this change. Today’s reminder of the forest was an important one, a gift from my homeland that is always giving. The coming days will be full of many trees, many of which will be challenging and difficult. I will do my best on those days to remember the forest and how blessed I am to be living in it.
