Mother's Day

I have to admit, I've never loved the holiday of Mother's day. My own mom disliked it growing up, so maybe that is where some of my prejudice comes from. Either way, today doesn't really rank as one of my "favorite holidays". That being said, I do have some thoughts that I've been pondering over for a few days now, that I would like to put down in writing.

If you would have asked me 10 years ago what I wanted to be "when I grew up", the job of "Mom" definitely wouldn't have topped the list (probably wouldn't have even made the top 5). All through my teenage years I had plenty of other big dreams that I wanted to fulfill, most of which would have made child rearing difficult. Getting married and having babies, just didn't appeal to me.

Thankfully, God had other plans for me. After I met my husband, and got married (pretty young, I might add), it took a little while, but eventually I realized that the career aspirations I had were not as important as family (particularly my family, or the family I was supposed to have). That is when things changed for me forever.

These days I can't imagine being anything else. Being a Mom is what I am supposed to be doing. The peace and indescribable joy that I feel when I look at my children outweighs any feelings of loss I may have over old dreams that never came to fruition.

Don't get me wrong - there are days where if I hear the word "Mommy" one more time (think whiny tones) I am going to loose it. And there are plenty of nights where by the time 8:00 pm rolls around, I don't want anyone to touch me, or look at me, or talk to me - and I just want to be left alone.

But, there are also days where my heart melts at an expression on one of my kids faces, or I laugh out loud at something they've said or done. And almost everyday, at least a little bit, they make me smile and thank my Father in Heaven for letting me be their mom.

I know that I am not the world's greatest. I do the best I can, but I make plenty of mistakes. I am truly grateful for children who forgive me, and still love me even when I mess up. Especially, even when I mess up big.

My pregnancies are long, difficult processes with less than easy recoveries. We've had major health scares with all of our children. Most likely I will spend every day of the rest of my life worrying about them. And yet, I would take it all a thousand times over again if that is what it took to have them.

I love being a mom. There is a time in my life when I never thought I would say that, but it is so true. I am grateful that my children are safe and whole and healthy and that we can be an eternal family. It really doesn't get any better than this.

I also have to add a "Happy Mother's Day" to my own mom and mother-in-law. Two of the greatest moms I know. Hopefully someday my kids will feel the same way about me.

**On a side note: The primary kids, and all the youth from our church sang a wonderful "non-traditional" Mother's day song during church today. This post is getting a little long, so I wont include it here but the words and music can be found here. It is a really beautiful, touching song. I really recommend checking it out.