Pages

5.02.2018

secret life of mothers

Me with my mom (far right) and sisters, Sky and Emma

I wrote this a couple years ago, but wanted to update it with a photo of my mom and I and a link to a rich, encouraging podcast. This story still rings in my heart to this day, and it frequently crosses my mind when I make little, daily sacrifices for my kids - some normal and almost missed, and some harder and more emotional.


On my mind today is a story my mom recently told me. We were taking a walk around the neighborhood and I mentioned how much shorter a mile is to me now than it was when I was little. I recalled a memory, saying, "I can't remember where we were walking, but we had to park somewhere down town when I was eight or nine. I remember you telling me it was about a mile-long walk to where we had to go, and I thought it took us forever to get there. I couldn't believe it was an entire mile. It was so hot and I remember being miserable."

"Oh, I know exactly what you are talking about!" my mom exclaimed. She continued to tell me about that day. I was in Girl Scouts and our troop was going to be on a float in a parade. She was getting over a kidney infection, but she didn't want me to miss the parade and she was a leader in the troop, so she took me despite the fact that her back was still very sore. Since there was no parking in the area where the parade was going to take place, we had to park the car pretty far away. There was no sidewalk so she couldn't take the stroller and had to carry my chunky 18-month-old brother the entire way, in the middle of summer, in the Texas heat.

I never knew all she went through to get me to that parade! My mom never complained about being a mother. Of course, I know some days were hard, but I don't remember that my mom was in pain, or that she was uncomfortable with a sore back carrying my little brother for a mile; I just remember having a ton of fun at that parade.

I am so thankful for my mom today. I never truly understood or appreciated all she did for me until I was a mother myself, and I hope I am able to give my own children good memories, and that I do it with grace, as she did. I am so thankful and honored that God has trusted these three beautiful little souls to me.

Happy mother's day to all my beautiful mama friends out there... mothers with one or five or twelve children. Mothers who are going it alone and hardly get a chance to breathe. Mothers whose children were brought to them through adoption. Mothers with aching hearts, who have lost babies before they even took their first breath. To women who have lost mothers and spend this day in mourning and to mother who have lost children. And to women who long to be mothers. To women who act as mothers to the lost and lonely. I hope you feel loved and appreciated today, and if you don't, know that God sees the sacrifices you have made for your children with your bodies, your minds, and your hearts.

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails