My Third Annual Mother's Day

I know I haven't been at this whole mom thing very long.  I still have a lot to learn and require a lot of grace, but Mother's Day is arguably becoming one of my favorite days of the year.  Personally, I feel that it is a day that permits me (and others) to celebrate the thing that I have come to take immeasurable pride in:  the raising of my children.  This is what makes me "mom".

Things I could've never known about what makes this day special until I became a mother myself:

• There is a reason bigger than Hallmark for why we celebrate moms:  Theirs is one of the hardest jobs on the planet.       
• This day is not just about being appreciated by your kids, it's an opportunity for you, the mom, to take pride in the daily grind of what you do that earned you that title, "Mother"
• If marriage requires selflessness, than mothering requires even more... In the last three years I have learned on vastly different levels what it means to be self-sacrificing.
• You never knew your capacity to love was so great until you have your own child.
• Because I am now a mom myself, I can truly praise my own mother in deepest gratitude on this day.
• Mother's Day proves that there is value in every diaper changed, every sleepless night, every wound mended, every discipline given, every carpool trip, every homework assistance, every meal cooked, every lullaby sung, every hug given, every unacknowledged effort, and every day you are on your knees praying for your children...

...Sometimes the job of being mom can leave me feeling like my hard work goes unnoticed, that the things I do have little merit compared to what I saw myself one day achieving, and that by the end of the day I have accomplished so very little.  There are times that I question the value of what I am doing when the framed piece of paper with my name on it that says "Bachelor of Science in General Ministry" could have been better used as a dust pan to clean up the food spills of the day.

Constantly, however, I am reminded -- by the glow in my daughter's eyes and grin on my son's face -- that what I do is priceless... eternally significant. God grants me grace every day through the preciousness of my children to remind me of how meaningful my stay-at-home-mom-job truly is.

They are the reasons I am allowed to be honored on this special day.  

Thank you, Charity and Silas, for your innocent love.

"Her children arise and call her blessed..."

Proverbs 31:28