Happy Mother's Day to me.



It’s very early on a Sunday morning and I am awake feeding my baby.  The sun is just coming up, and we share some sweet moments of toothless baby smiles and snuggles.  As we both become more awake, I realize that today is Mother’s Day.  Yesterday that fact dawned on my husband too and as I looked a shirt in the store and gazed at the price tag, he stopped me and told me to just buy it.  It would be a Mother’s Day gift from him and the kids he explained because they hadn’t yet got me anything.  I smiled and said thank you, but in that moment as I looked at him standing there with my three sweet children all looking at me happily, I knew in my heart that he was very wrong. 

Mother’s Day for me is not a day where I desire to be spoiled and rewarded and recognized for all of the hard labor that goes into being a mom, the long hours, the sleepless nights, the constant worry, or any of those other things.  Mother’s Day for me is a day where I pause in deep thankfulness and breathless wonder that I have been given this amazing gift.  I have been entrusted with caring for three small and amazing children.  Every day they grow and I watch in awe as they develop in every way and at a staggering speed into these incredible people.  The joy that they bring into my life on a daily basis far surpasses any difficulty that might come with it.  I am by nature a serious person, but they make me giggle.  I am by nature a worrier, but they make me take risks and try new things.  I am by nature a planner, but they make me stop and enjoy the moment.  Every day and in countless ways they delight my soul.  Standing alongside my husband as we raise these little ones is the greatest and most fulfilling job I could ever have.  Together we laugh, and cry, and hug, and encourage each other as we try to provide them with a good and loving home.  We secretly laugh at their mischief even as we outwardly push them to make good choices.  The things that they say and the ideas they come up with provide us with endless smiles. 


So as my son finished dinner last night and announced, “Thank you mommy for making us that yummy dinner”, and as I snuggled my daughter to sleep and she whispered in my ear, “Mommy, you are my BEST mommy,” and as I gazed into the silly baby smiles of my tiniest one this morning, and as I looked at my husband standing tall and strong holding onto all three of them in the store yesterday, I knew the truth:  They have already given me the greatest gift, it is the gift of their love, the gift of being called their mommy.  With that gift God has blessed me in one of the greatest ways possible and has given me a responsibility that I will treasure as long as I live.  There may be a little work that comes along with it, but it is the joy of my heart to be a mother.  So this day for me is not about being celebrated, but about celebrating the gift I have received.  Happy Mother’s Day to me.  


(Now just to be clear, my sweet and wonderful husband is also taking me on a dinner date and spoiling me as well, I don't want him to loose credit for being amazing)

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