Happy Mother's Day!

I've been thinking a lot about Mother's Day this year.  Last year I was great with child and anxious to meet Charlotte.  While I was technically a mother and already loved Charlotte so much and would have done anything to protect her, I didn't really become a mother until May 22nd.  Just like my love and appreciation for my own Mom changed once Charlotte came in to my life, my love for Charlotte grew to infinite measures that day. 

Over this past year I have grown to love and appreciate my Mom so much.  I have always loved my Mom but this year I learned how much she loved me which increased my love for her so much.  I am so blessed to have a WONDERFUL Mom and I am thankful every day for the blessing that she was to me growing up and today.  I feel so bad now for all the times I got angry and frustrated and was ugly because I couldn't understand why she made the rules that she did.  I know now that she did it all because she loved me and wanted to keep me safe and healthy and whole.  She did a great job at showing me what it means to be an upstanding woman and mother.  Thank you Mom for putting up with me during those not-so-nice teenage years and growing to be not only my Mom but my friend.  I love you so much!

This past year has also reminded me of something that has always stuck out to me from my childhood.  I don't know how old I was but I remember that we lived on Devonshire so I was probably 8 or younger.  I don't remember what the conversation was about, probably I had done something wrong and was getting punished and my parents were trying to explain to me why they had rules, but I remember them telling me that they loved me so much.  That I couldn't imagine how much they loved me.  But the amazing thing was that God loved me even more than they did.  They might not even remember telling me that but I do.  That one comment has stuck with me and shaped my view of God and my view of myself so much. 

And so that's why I tell Charlotte all the time that I love her so much but that God loves her even more.  Being a parent is such a big responsibility.  We want to teach her all the right things and help her grow to be a mature, responsible, healthy, happy, well-rounded, talented woman.  And so it helps me, and helps me take some of the pressure off of my own shoulders, to know that as much as I love her -- which is so, so, so much -- God loves her even more and wants all of those things for her even more than I do. 

If you are a Mother, thank you so much for all that you do.  Mom's do so much for everyone else and have to take most of the brunt of bad days and fits and tiredness and everything else.  So thank you.  I pray that each Mom knows how much their children love them even if they don't or can't say it and most of all, how much God loves them and their children.

And for those of you out there who want to be Mom's and aren't or who have lost a Mom or a child this year I'm praying for you.  That God will give you peace and joy in your hopes and memories and that you can remember how much God loves you and has the absolute perfect plan for you.

Happy Mother's Day!