I thought it often in my first year as a mother, when I was every day discovering what this new life of parenthood looked and felt like: doing anything with kids is a hundred times harder than doing it without kids. But it’s a thousand times better.
 
From eating dinner to going to Mass to taking a walk around the block — every single outing, even the simplest ones, had an extra level of logistical complexity. I had to bring diapers and food and extra clothes, I had to be ready to distract, to comfort, to settle, to de-escalate. Before, I just showed up, did the thing and went home. Now, I had to be ready to coordinate.
 
I had to be ready to serve.
 
But even while everything had become so much more complicated, so much harder, there was suddenly a joyfulness to these experiences that had not been there before. Yes, I was a mom now, a servant if there ever was one, constantly tending to someone else’s needs, and it was difficult. Sometimes terribly so. But it was beautiful (not in a physical way — I was usually covered in baby spit-up — but my soul had that glow, you know?).
 
It was the first time in my life that I really understood what it was to serve, and the power of that vocation to which we are all called.
 
This isn’t just true of parenthood. It’s true of every relationship. When we find someone we can meaningfully, wholeheartedly serve — our spouse, our best friend, our employees, our students, our patients, whoever it is — the effort becomes nothing compared to the joy and the fulfillment we find in the work.
 
We were made for greatness, and Christ tells us that to be great is to serve. So don’t be afraid of greatness. Don’t be afraid to serve.