For real, though! Moms are amazing.
I hope you know how amazing you are. You've got it going on! Whether you birthed your children, adopted them or somehow woke up with small humans in your life, you're an amazing person for loving them. You press on through endless whining, long stretches of sickness, the "phase" your child is currently in...and you make a world for those little ones. You ARE their world for the first years of life! You are their sun as they orbit around you and grow from your warmth. On days when you'd rather just stay in bed and think of your own wishes, you still spend your energy to love, serve and nurture those precious ones. You are awesome!
Sometimes I look around at the mothers I know and am confounded by their capacity to get things done. Some women have a grace on them to have large families, where everyone is dressed properly, uses flawless manners, can speak a second language and has a super-suit with heroic powers... If that's you, then just know that the rest of us are in awe.
I, on the other hand, am fine if my kids are just dressed - doesn't have to be "properly" - and if they can just remember to come to me when I call them. I do have a Responsibilities Chart for my daughter, and she gets a sticker for certain things we ask of her each day....so far, we're really striving hard to get the teeth brushed on a consistent basis. Ugh. But, just when it has been one of those days, Claire will come to me, curl up in my lap with her arms around my neck and say, "I love you, Mommy." Then I remember how precious this little one is! And how important my patient involvement with her really is.
Last year, during a study on the Holy Spirit, I fell into a new definition of LONGSUFFERING, which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (also listed as "patience" in certain translations) Longsuffering is, yes, "to suffer long." But to bring it down to a more practical understanding, here's my definition: to be graciously "in it" for the long-haul. To have a long-term view of the relationship or situation that is anchored by peace.
Boy, do I need that in my life as a mom! If I could just remember that my daughter's memory lapse on the thing I have repeatedly told her to do is only a pixel in the big picture. If I could just take a step back and see that my frustrations with my two-year-old are just a quick blip on the screen of his life. My children need me to have the big picture in front of me. They need me to be their navigator because I'm the one who has already passed this way before. Too many times, I let my response to my kids come from a place of self - telling them how annoyed I am with them or how they are constantly messing up. Turning my attention and my heart away from them. Hiding the warmth of their sun. And I can see their little hearts go limp and the light drain out of their eyes. Thank God for amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. I NEED the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life! I can't do this mom thing out of the storehouse of my flesh! I know that I will utterly fail my children if my source of power is me.
That's why I'm so grateful for another option - the Holy Spirit's power in me!!! I can choose the source from which I live - and I MUST choose. The default setting is my own abilities and my own thoughts and my own endurance, and I know those don't get me very far...so I choose LIFE. I'm making a decision to plug into LIFE by ingesting the Word, praising my amazing God and letting Him fill me up with His river of living water so that it springs out of me. I know this will be a moment-by-moment decision since life is fast and unpredictable. But I'm going to choose LIFE over and over again. I'm declaring it by faith.
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So....back to celebrating! Today I raise my glass (of decaf iced tea) to all you moms out there! We're going to raise up a generation of people who love God and know how to love others from the true Source of LIFE! Cheers!!!
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For the mother that you are - you are fabulous! For the guardian and protector that you are - you are fierce! For the teacher and guide that you are - you are honored! For the time you invest - you are rewarded! For the tears you shed - you are understood! For the prayers you pray - you are fruitful! For the love you give - you're amazing.
Happy Mother's Day to YOU!
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