Mothers Day 2020

Ramblings from a mom whose kids are all grown and out of the house…..

First, I want to take a few minutes and wish you a happy Mother’s Day….if you are a mom that is 🙂  Mom’s are great.  They kiss our boo boos.  Tell it like it is.  Protect us from the cars on the street or the hot coffee in the cup.  They love their children and want the absolute best for them. I love my mom.

As a mom I will totally say that being a mom is a winding road.  From the birth of that amazing baby…..to the marriage of that amazing adult – there is so much road in between. Do you feel this way too?

Now, I do know that Mother’s Day can be a rough day for some of you.  Maybe your mom has passed away or maybe you don’t have anyone you can call mom.  Or maybe your relationship, with the person you call mom, is not all you had hoped it could be.  Or maybe, as a mom, you are estranged from your children and you haven’t seen or talked to them in awhile. Or maybe your child has passed away…sigh.

And if any of that is the case – I am so very sorry. Sometimes those human relationships just fail us on so many levels. I will pray for you….and I can be your mom (or you child) for a day or two if you want.

As for me and my ramblings….I remember holding that baby and wondering how in the heck I was going to change a diaper, what if I left it at the store, and how was I to raise this little person so they can live to their fullest potential.  The joy….and at the same time, the fear….were overwhelming.

Those 1st smiles, 1st steps, 1st words….1st poops, 1st throw ups, 1st stubborn streak.  ALL those 1st’s are pretty amazing aren’t they?  I kept a log for my son (my 1st born) and wrote everything down…I mean everything.  When Nicole was born I was busier…so not so much. Sorry Nicole.

There is so much to say about being a mom.

So much to say about kids growing older and growing up. One thing I knew for sure was that my job, as a mom, was to raise my kids to be independent. I also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I needed to raise them to live under the umbrella of God.  Who I knew would protect them from all the stuff…as long as they remained under His umbrella and leaned in close.

Knowing those few things helped me as I was faced with all of those ‘oh my gosh, what do I do now’ decisions.  Did you ever have those?  The ones when you knew you should ground them, or take away the car keys….but you also knew it was their birthday party weekend, and was it right to take the party away? Sheesh…all those mom decisions.

My kids are all grown up and married.  My husband and I are ‘empty nesters’. When they come to visit we are so grateful they are here, and then we feel so ungrateful when we say to each other ‘wish it was longer.’  It has been hard with the quarantine to not see them.  As I am sure it is for you too.

I have come to realize that it is really easy to remember (and write down) all the 1st’s.

BUT, we never know when the lasts are do we? 

The last time they held our hand.  The last time they slept in ‘mommies beddie.’ The last time they asked for advice.  The last time you got to see them.

The growing and maturing is a natural process.  Which goes hand-in-hand with the aging process.  I am on the downhill side of the aging.  I don’t know how many years God has given me. I try to be very intentional with my phone calls and eliminating all distractions when we are together. I try to send cards often…,just saying hi and I love you.

I love being a mom. It has been the most rewarding job of my life. I have loved having the privilege of staying home. I hope and pray that I have given them all the tools that they need to live a life of victory over all things. I hope I have given them all the tools they need to choose joy. I want them to know that I love them from the depths of my heart.  A mother’s heart has no boundaries does it?  I think it is all consuming.

As I close out my ramblings (and thanks for reading to the bottom)…If you are a mom, or a mother-in-law, or a stand in mom or a grand-mother…Happy Mother’s Day to you.  Enjoy this day devoted to you.  I hope that you receive what you wish for on this day. Breakfast in bed. Handmade cards. Or a phone call. It doesn’t really matter does it? Contact in any form is welcome. Agree?

I would like to encourage you to live your own life, with your kids, with no regrets as a parent. There are no guarantees in anything. Hug them (when you are our of quarantine that is), tell them you love them, write them a note. Yes, it is Mother’s Day, a celebration of YOU, but without those kids….you would not be a mom.

Bigger Hugs Today