Today is my 19th official Mother's Day. Funny, the number 19 doesn't seem large enough, because I have had so many "Mother's Days"...like the day I found out I was pregnant:after 5 years of infertility, five surgeries, applying for adoption, waiting for our child, many tears of sadness...or the day Mick was born, after 40 hours of labor...getting beta strep, struggling to make it, he and I, and (we almost didn't), and thanks to Matt, our 'coach' who talked me through the last hours of labor when my hearing was gone, and I could only hear his voice, and God, who so richly blessed us and helped us through that ordeal... or the days our daughters were born, and I looked into their eyes and cried with tears of joy that I was so privileged to hold another miracle, a gift from God...or the day when Meghan got sick, and the months and years that followed with the many challenges she faced, and overcame, one by one, when I knew what it truly meant to be a mother, to help my child who was seriously ill... or the day our Shannon, at 3 months, was sedated and slid into the MRI tube and we waited to find out if she had something serious wrong , and prayed that God would make it not so...and He did...or the day that Sarah had scoliosis surgery, and we waited 8 hours as she underwent spinal fusion, and we prayed, and she recovered...when we saw Sophie for the first time, after waiting too long for her and bearing with paperwork glitches and files lost...and she looked up and me five minutes after we met her, and signed "mother'...
Being a mother is so much more than we can begin to catalog, or list, or recite. Being a mother is truly a gift, whether we bore our children under our hearts or in them. God intended that gift to be a precious one. Like gold in the fire, he intended that we would not just be handed that gift and finished, but that we would be blessed with our children, and then tried, like gold in the fire, with sadness and hardships, difficulties and illnesses, so that we would never lose sight of the beauty of the creations He chose to call us 'Mom". If it was easy, anyone could do it, but He chose us to do it.
On this Mother's Day, I am thankful for the precious gifts that God has given me. After five years of praying for 'a child', God has given me six! (Remember, God cannot be outdone in His generosity!!!) I am thankful for my husband Matt, who has shared my life for almost 25 years of marriage, who is the most awesome Dad in the world, who helps me to be the best Mom I can be, and whom I love with all my heart. And I am thankful for my kids, who are the light of my life, and who are growing up to be awesome people. And I am grateful, beyond measure, to God, who has tried us many times in fires of illness and obstacles, but who has never left my side, and who strengthens my resolve to fight the good fight by giving me the joy of my family each and every day.
For all my friends who are mothers, I wish you a happy day, lots of TLC, and if you are lucky, a quiet moment to thank God for the blessings who wake you up in the middle of the night, need to be fed more times than you think is possible, drink countless gallons of milk and consume more food than developing countries:and who love you in a way that takes your breath away.
Happy Mother's Day
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