Mothers' Day

We start out being cared for at every whim. We are fed, and changed, and clothed...and then at the blink of an eye, before we even realize how much time has passed...we have been pole vaulted into being that very one who is now caring for our own little ones....and then those little ones grow up....and we find ourselves watching as they now are the ones caring for their little ones. Stages..."they are just going through a stage" we say....as we watch our children grow...I quickly realize that they are not the only ones going through stages...we all are. Just as they are experiencing new territories so are we. Just as they have quirky preferences...so do we. For that is the grand and magnificent glory of how we are made....different and special.... each of us in the eyes of our creator.

As we approach this day that we celebrate mothers, we all can relate. For all of us had mothers....those who were birth mothers and those who have stepped in along the way to be motherly. Oh, what lessons we have learned from them along the way. We have gathered them and shared them sometimes by example and sometimes by word. But what were some of those lessons? When you celebrate Mothers Day this weekend, take a minute to think on these things...take some time to reminisce...and think back on your childhood and those years that seem to have passed so quickly. What are some of your favorite memories...and it would fun to ask your children what some of their favorite memories are. We just don't talk about these things enough...and if we are not careful those precious experiences where so many lessons were learned of love, and sharing and joy...are going to fade away leaving no story of old for our children of young.

Share your story and listen as your children share theirs...So many of our parents are older now and it is hard for them to recollect their memories of their childhood...but try to get it out of them. Ask questions? We are blessed beyond words to have the God given privilege of raising children. Motherhood is not for sissies and it is a job that is requires us to wear many hats and play out many roles. It is not easy...but just as we are rewarded on Earth as we watch God work in their lives...I think being a mom reaps a heavenly reward as well. For we have been given the bodies that house these precious ones from the beginning....and when they are introduced into this world, it is our arms that are the first to caress them and show them love. And thus their journey on this earth begins....and out new occupation takes flight.

We have no instruction manual...and the job description varies according to the child and to the day and to the momentary crisis or joy. We might not have not have done all things right....but we did the best that we could...with what we knew, and what we had, and what had been passed down through the generations before us. Through this journey we continue to learn, to be flexible, to be courageous, to be tough, to be tender, to be wise, to be compassionate, to be humbled, to be a servant, ....but most of all we learn to love with a heart that never gives up. For no matter if a child is just learning to walk... learning to fly from the nest... starting a brand new married life...having babies, or pursuing a livelihood....we will always be their mom...and oh, what a treasure that title of Mom is. It starts with just a little girl...then little girls grow up to be moms and moms grow up to be grandmons...and grandmoms grow up to be great grandmoms....and God's cycle of life continues on....and to think it all started from one little seed.

Psalm 139:13
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

May your Mothers Day be blessed....and may God make you mindful of the blessing you have been to those you have mothered....whether you have children or not, you have made a difference to folks along the way who you have nurtured....and the title of mother is not reserved only to those who have children of their own....it is a precious title that God gives to those loving, kindhearted women who have come along side a child who is in need and cared...and showed it! And that child can be any of us...at any age....for we were all somebody's baby at one time!

Dear Lord, Thank you for the blessing of motherhood. For our mothers who we have been blessed with and for their mothers and for the generations that have gone before us and will come after us. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!