Thoughts on being a mom

I just got Samantha down for a nap and the others are enjoying "quiet time" so I wanted to just take a minute to share my thoughts on being a mom.

This Mother's Day has been very different but it's been good to help me to see outside the box. Mother's Day is not a day off, it's a day to really enjoy being a mom and spending time with my children. While I'm physically "alone" this Mother's Day, I am not alone. I was blessed this morning with a dear friend who took time away from her family, her "day off", to come fix me and my children breakfast. I can't even begin to describe the emotions in me today. I was so touched. After church, another wonderful sister came to bring me dinner so I wouldn't have to fix it for myself on Mother's Day. What a blessing to have such good friends who take time away from themselves and their families to bless ours today and "mothering" me. Thank you so much!

My perspective on being a mom has definitely changed over the years. While I always knew this is what the Lord wanted me to do, and what I wanted to do, there were many times I questioned how this was all going to work out. For those who don't know, we went through about 2 years of fertility testing/drugs to be able to expand our family beyond only one child. We since have been blessed many times over as each of our other children have joined our family. I could not imagine my life with out all of my children. They are such a blessing to me individually and to our family as a whole. We are so blessed!

Being a mom is far from being the easiest thing I've done but I'm so grateful for each of my children, for the lessons they've taught me, for the ways they've helped me to change. Each one of them, I know, was sent to our family to help me make the changes that the Lord needs me to make. I am so far from perfect and they are helping me see ways that I need to change to become the type of person the Lord would like me to be. It's a long process, that's why he sends us such special spirits to guide us through this process.

What a privilege to know that we are trusted that much by a loving Heavenly Father to raise children in this world. It is some thing that is taken far too lightly by many of us these days. Since my husband has been gone, I've have felt so much more the burden of raising these children. They are primarily my responsibility right now. They need me to show them how to have faith, to know that God is leading our family. I need to be strong for them. I hope I can live up to the task as I continue on. I hope that I can teach them those things that are most important that they, one day, will be able to get married to people, as wonderful as their father, and have the blessing of becoming parents.

Even though I can't be with my husband today, I know that this is a journey we are on together. He has been there to strengthen me and help me not only at each of their births, but through the never ending journey of raising them. I know that the Lord wants us to be together and to bring these children up in His way, not ours.

So while some moms may be enjoying a "day off" from the dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc., I will be enjoying this day with my children BEING a mom. Enjoying them for who they are, and who they all too quickly are becoming. I am so grateful for the privilege of being a mother, their mother. I am and will always be a Mother.