Daily Gratitude Year 10 - Day 129: Today, I am grateful for the ones who made me a mother.
To become a mother is to suddenly discover a piece of your heart is beating in another tiny human's body. Right? There is a connection that is strong. God designed a mother's love to be fierce, self-sacrificing and unwavering.
We are not perfect, but the love we have for our children is forever. They are always our babies, no matter how smart, self-sufficient and grown they become.
When I reflect on my own motherhood, I am very aware of my shortcomings and imperfections. There were times I did not get the work/life balance right. There were times I was soft when I should have been hard... and hard when I should have been soft.
I am grateful for their gifts of patience, love and forgiveness over the years. Always and forever! Time with them is still the best of gifts.
I still smile to think that I actually held Chase's wife first. Emma was a month older than Chase, and she was less than 24 hours old when her Aunt Jill and I made our way to the hospital to meet her. She was so tiny and precious.(I've joked that I don't think Chase "leapt in my womb" the way John leapt in Elizabeth's womb when encountering Mary who was pregnant with Jesus, but perhaps he should have. Luke 1:41)
Motherhood, with boys, is a rolling thunder through the house. How sweet were the days of hearing a herd of boys coming in the garage door, kicking off their shoes and thundering down the steps to the kingdom of boys? I miss the shoes, the thunder and the constant need to buy snacks.
There are two boys I helped raise... that I did not give birth to... but they are like my own. Their mother, Jill, and I were together or talked nearly every day for 28 years. Ryan and Blake, her sons, are my other sons. Ryan and Blake were here after school and on summer days when Jill and I swapped daycare/after care days. Ryan was my true practice child! (I didn't break him or warp him.) Blake would only eat my PBJ's. (His mom didn't make them into butterflies the way I did.)
Joshua Phillips and the children of "Fillmore Street" are others in the mix, who were daily in our world. In the neighborhood and at church... all Moms parented when necessary. Our kids were blessed by the many mothers who cared about them. Last night, we celebrated one of those children... Marina... graduating from High School. Where did the days go? Walker can still dial up "Miss Susie's" cell phone number from any phone in his hand! Motherhood is a gift, best shared.
When my niece, Kenzie, signed up for roommate roulette at Bradley University, we hit the jackpot! Kinga Kovacs was a grown, competent and capable world traveler when Kenzie brought her home... I am so glad we get to keep her. Matthew and Jen... Randy and I... we love our other daughter/niece from another set of parents... and from another country (Hungary). Uncle Randy and Aunt Valerie will always have room in the inn for you and your family Kinga.
It has been a joy to watch our boys grow in every season of life. When I held them for the first time, I didn't think I could love another human any more than at that moment. I know Randy felt the same. But, thirty years later... I know we love them more than when we brought them home. Yes, time with family is still our favorite way to spend any day.
I am so God trusted us with Chase and Walker. I will be eternally grateful to be their mother. They are good men... even if I do say so myself.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. -Psalm 139:13
They formed inside me... but their lives have shaped mine in ways I can never repay. I am blessed to be their mother.
Today, I am grateful for the ones who made me a mother.
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