Today is Your Day, Mother

At first I thought I might just edit and repost a mother’s day blog post from another year… but I decided that Mother’s Day deserves it’s own post. Why? Well, because… Because being a mother is so much more.

More complicated than you ever dreamed.

More difficult than you ever expected.

More fulfilling than any one could tell you.

More, much more than I know how to put into words. Becoming a mother happens in a moment – when life begins to pulse within, but the repercussions of that first pulse have the potential to shake your entire future. The moment you first hold your child in your arms, you may realize that life will never be the same again, but you have no idea at that instant all that it will really mean. You don’t know yet the heart throbs a mother’s heart will go through starting at the moment that new little heart first throbs inside –  the joy, the agony, the moments its pace will quicken or stand still.

But you are mother – you are mighty.

You can do this, and you do and will do. You have found a destiny that is greater than you dreamed. You have found a place where you can shape eternity. You have become the shaper of a life that in turn may shape the world. You are privileged.

You are awesome.

Your day does not come once a year. Your day is every day.

Your day is today.

Today you will most likely wash sticky fingers and wipe snotty noses. You will rock the baby, kiss the boo-boos, stir the kettles, scrape the dishes, do the laundry, clean up the mess, again, and again, and again.

Today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow.

You will get up before you feel like it , and walk out to meet the day and answer the cries of “mom, mom, mom” again, and again, and again. You will do all the normal mom stuff because,… well, because you are mom. And sometimes you will feel like it doesn’t count. You will feel like no one sees and yes, sometimes you will feel like throwing in the towel – no not into the washer with it’s endless cycles to be changed, but on life and motherhood and endless cycles of insignificant.

But when you feel that way – that is when I want you to remember that it is NOT insignificant. This is priceless. This is eternal. This is something you must not miss.

Don’t.

Just don’t miss it.

Don’t miss the outstanding in the ordinary.

Don’t miss what you’re doing.

Stop.

Stop what you are doing and close your eyes. Breathe deep. Your moment is now! Now. Right now you are accomplishing amazing things. You’re mothering. You are you. You are strong. You are brave. You are courageous. You are learning from your mistakes, laughing when you feel like crying. Going on when you want to quit.

 You are mom.

You are not doing something small.

I know this because I have joined my mother in this triumphal march. The sacrifices she made, those endless moments are part of my treasured heritage – my story. She shaped my life. She taught me to be a life shaper. I haven’t finished this march. I have only begun. I will make mistakes. I will wonder if I can make it to the end. But I will finish. And I want to finish well.

I honor you today, Mother, because you are worthy. There is no way I can put it into words here what you mean to me. The way you have blessed me in growing up years and still bless me today. I didn’t know what you were doing. I couldn’t always see your greatness. I still can’t comprehend the magnitude, but I see more of it as I learn to mother myself. Thank you. Thank you more than words can tell for being mother, and for mothering well. I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day today and always.