Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Mother's Day

I do know this is a little late in coming. I apologize for that. This however is not a typical Happy Mother's Day you are wonderful post. Although there are tons of mother's out there that are awesome and wonderful.

No, this post is a realization post. See, I hate mother's day. This year especially with the turmoil that our family has gone through. We have had a lot go on. Some good some bad.

But without going into the personal things that our family has gone through, I want to share an intimate thing I have learned in the last week. First let me explain why I hate mother's day.

See, I and my husband have 6 kids. We are a blended family. The last two years that I sat in church on Mother's Day, the pastor honored the oldest mom, the newest mom, the mom with the most kids, etc. Here's my thing with that. What about the woman that miscarried last week? What about the woman that can't give birth to children? While I know in our church it is included that a mom is an adoptive mom, or a step mom, or a biological mom; it still bothers me. So what if I have 6 kids? Does it make me a better mother than a woman with only 1 child? No. It don't. It makes me more stressed out about how everything is going to get done.

Anyhow, this last week, I asked God to help me come to terms with Mother's Day. We knew we weren't going to make it to church because Jeff had to work and with my existing feelings I didn't really want to go. So I stayed home with the kids and watched church on TV. Back to what God did for me. I was reading over some scripture and trying to keep the kiddos at bay, I think it was Friday. We had had a busy week last week with doctor's appointments and school IEPs and such, it was good to have a slow day. In the early evening as I was reading, it struck me that these blessings that I have been blessed with are not mine. These children are God's children not mine. I have no rights to them and I am not entitled to the children being mine. Meaning that they are with me because God has entrusted their care to me. I may not be perfect, but I do my best to keep my eyes on the Father and teach the kids of His love and of what He has done for us. I do this by letting Him shine through me.

So for me, Mother's Day has a new meaning. Instead of focusing on me, I take the time to reflect and relax. See where I can improve and what I need to hand over to God.

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