Motherhood...A Lifetime Journey

This is Mother's Day weekend. It is a special weekend for many of us as we celebrate it with our mothers. Gifts and flowers are purchased to shower upon mothers, while restaurant reservations are made and menus are prepared to honor this most special person in our lives. For those who no longer have their mother with them, it is a sad day, with feelings of nostalgia. For those of us who do have our mothers to share the day with, we embrace that opportunity to show her how much we love and care for her for all she has sacrificed and done for us.

As a mother of 4 children, I can tell you that there is no other job in this world as important as being a mother. A mother is the most important figure in a child's life for many years. She teaches him/her all of the lessons in life they will need to not only survive, but be a thriving, productive human being. However, children also teach us mothers some pretty important lessons too.

Before I was a mother, I mostly thought of "me". How I could further "myself" and "my" causes. Even when a person first marries, they are still to some extent a "me" person. Sure, they now have a life partner to share everything with, but there is an amount of "me" that remains in the beginning. Becoming a mother has an effect that occurs almost instantly. I don't care what pro choice advocates may say; whenever a woman discovers that there is a life growing inside of her, she changes. And as that child begins to form inside her "human incubator", so does her love and feelings of responsibility toward it grow stronger. By the time the baby is born, wrapped in a warm blanket and placed in her arms...let's just say, "They had you at WAY before 'Hello"!

I realize that there are definitely difficult times ahead for mothers with their children. I am not that much of a romantic to lead one to believe that there will not be trying times ahead. And that is the one thing that puzzles many concerning motherhood. No matter what your child does, your love for them will never change. I have often heard men (including my own husband...) remark from time to time about mothers and their children. They are astonished by the fact that we do not want ANYONE going against or saying anything negative against our children (even if it happens to be true...). And that includes the dad! That has been the most difficult thing for me; allowing Robby to interact and discipline the children in his own way. Because HIS way, is not MY way; a mother's way. It is my theory that God intended things to be that way. His plan was for that tiny little baby growing inside a mother... attached to her very body by an umbilical cord and counting on HER for its very survival...to become "attached" to her like no other person they would ever be attached to in life.

As I looked at my own mother the other day, I realized how much she had physically changed over the years. Oh, it wasn't the beautiful white hair that she was sporting; she had had that for many years. And it wasn't that her voice sounded any different. It just seemed that one day I woke up and she was much older than I thought she would ever be. She walked a little slower now, stooped over from her once regal height. Her eye sight had waned over the years, causing her to no longer be able to drive. And although she still enjoyed her yard full of gorgeous flowers, she found herself no longer capable of working for hours, digging in the dirt. This was a real reality check for me. For the first time, I realized that my mother would not always be here with me and that one day I too would be spending Mother's Day without my mother present.

So, as I prepare for this Mother's Day weekend, I don't necessarily think of "me" or what "I" want (a lesson taught to me by my children upon becoming a mother...), although I am a mother too. It is a day for "our" mothers; mine and Robby's. It is a day to honor and thank them for all they have done and continue to do for us. The gifts have been purchased, the menu is being planned and Sunday will be a very special day for 2 very special people in our lives...OUR MOTHERS. Happy Mother's Day!