MOTHER'S DAY

On this Mother's Day I am praying for women who are struggling with infertility, miscarriage, and infant loss. I am praying for mothers that are victims of abuse, mothers who are incarcerated, and mothers who selflessly gave their children to others in hopes for a better life. I am praying for those mothers who have lost a child to disease, death, or kidnapping. I am praying for the mothers who are patiently waiting for their children to return from a foreign land at war. I am praying for mothers who did not bear the child that stole their hearts and changed their lives. I am praying for those mothers who never get to be mothers, despite all efforts, because I feel strongly that it is a beautiful gift, and an honor, to be a mother. I also pray for foster mothers who step in and become everything a child deserves. Despite all the sentimental verses for Mother's Day, I find myself praying for the REAL mothers living very real circumstances.

I don't need gifts to feel honored, I don't need cards, I have four little reminders that make sure to show and tell me they love me. I feel recognized daily, I know I am appreciated. I am shown regularly that I am the glue of my family, the guide, the cook, the protector, the joker, the maid, the grouch, the tickle monster, the defender, the storyteller, the snuggler, the punisher, the rule maker, I have many titles and I embrace them all. While some days I start to feel like I don't matter and everyone has walked all over me, I remind myself that there are women in the world that would absolutely give ANYTHING to be in my position. They would happily take the bad with the good. That single thought keeps me grounded and reminds me to be humble and to never take motherhood for granted.

I know that at any moment my babies could be taken from me, or me taken from them. I do my very best to tell them I love them and that they are valuable, to tell them that they are our future and that they can do anything they put their minds to, to make sure they know they are safe and that I will never let them down, and most importantly that I love them unconditionally.