Dedicated to my mom for mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms-to-be out there, in particular my sister who appropriately chose Mother's Day to announce to the world that there's a baby on the way! Her and her husband have been having difficulty getting pregnant, so has another friend of mine, as well as a few others I know. This situation is another example of how confusing this world and God's plan can be. I know people who would make great parents and yet they have difficulty getting pregnant, then I know some, myself included that get pregnant on birth control. Then I know others who shouldn't be parents, don't deserve the precious treasure that are children, who can pop out one right after another, neglecting and abusing them for years. But, that is a soap box for another day. Today I would like to celebrate and acknowledge all moms out there.

Motherhood is both a blessing and curse when you really think about it. We are blessed with these precious little angels to cuddle and care for. But, we are also blessed with these little angels whom we now worry about constantly. We not only worry about today, but we worry about 10, 20, 50 years from now. Who will they become? Will they be happy? Successful? Will they stay out of trouble? Will they wait till I'm at least in my late 40's to make me a grandma? When will they break my heart for the first time? When will that first "I hate you" come?

Motherhood really is a never-ending, sometimes thankless job. But, it is also the best job in the whole wide world. I think God knows when we're "having one of those days", you know, when we feel like a failure. Wondering if we're screwing our kids up beyond belief?! Because it's on those days when one of my children will say or do something that makes my heart swell and causes me to laugh till tears roll down my cheeks.

O.k. I could go on forever about the ups and downs of motherhood, but I want to thank my mom. I was a fairly good kid, didn't cause too much trouble, although I did have a couple of run-ins with the law and broke curfew a couple of times. But what I've realized lately, when thinking about how a mother's job is never done, is just that! I waited until I was "grown-up", an adult who supposedly knew better, to really break my mother's heart. I made a couple of bad choices, that thankfully have led to wonderful miracles, but still, at the time......What was I doing to my mother? This woman who fed me, clothed me, sacrificed for me, provided a future for me, encouraged me, etc. I remember her face as I walked out the door, I remember finding out about how she sat at the dining room table days later and cried over the mistakes that I was making. And then, I remember how a few weeks later when I got sick, she brought me chicken soup. Then as I woke up from my "brain fart" as we like to call it, she opened her arms wide and welcomed me back home.

This is what moms do. We love unconditionally, just as God loves us. The day my son Dillon was born I turned to my mom and said "I'm sorry". She said "for what"? And I said "for everything". We never truly appreciate everything that our moms do for us or sacrifice for us until that moment we become moms. My mom did the best job she could do. She had just the right mix of love, friendship, discipline, tough-love, etc. Most of all she forgave me, everytime. Everytime I've let her down, she's given me a lecture, followed by a hug. Still to this day she is still mothering me. There are days when I'm counting down to the day when Taylynn turns 18 and "my job is done". LOL. There is no such thing! My job, just as my mother's, just as God's, will never be done. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Mother's Day Mom.