Happy Mother's Day

This weekend my heart was particularly heavy for those women who don’t fully enjoy Mother’s Day.  There are women who are birth mothers thinking of the babies they’ve given up, mothers with failed adoptions, mothers who have miscarried, mothers waiting for a referral to adopt, mothers who have lost a child to death,  mothers who are grieving over difficult or special needs children, women who are far away from their children globally, women whose husbands are away overseas in the military, women in the midst of hard pregnancies and daughters (and sons) who will be celebrating without their mothers who have already died.

I started out feeling down in the dumps because I miss my son Brandon so much.  Two years ago today I was spending Mother’s Day in Ukraine waiting for Brandon’s passport to come in so we could head to Kiev and begin our travels back to the States.  He had no idea that the day was even special to me as a mother and the language barrier was difficult to explain so I didn’t even try.  I was missing my three girlies and hubby back home.  Yet, I was filled with joy because I got to spend it with my new son.  I believe we visited a carnival and zoo.  It is a special memory with Brandon that I will always hold dear to my heart.

This year my family spoiled me with homemade cards and gifts.  Tim folded our mountain of laundry and the kids put everything away. We went to church and Sunday school in the morning and then we went to Red Robin for lunch.  I like Red Robin because it is not crowded on Sunday mornings at 11am when we get out of Sunday school. 

 

Our pastor presented a challenge to moms.  He asked what legacy we want to leave for our children.  When I’m dead and gone, what do I want my children to remember about me?  I thought about this challenge the rest of the afternoon and I came up with a few things I want my children to remember about me and I’m going to try to realign my life with these goals in mind for the future. 1) That I love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind.  That my entire life, finances and priorities consistently line up with His will.  2) That I love my husband passionately.  That I honor, serve and cherish Tim.  That life is not always easy, but together we are stronger and together God enables us to stand against anything the enemy throws at our family.  3)  That I love my children and that I see them as precious gifts from God.  That I love them enough to discipline them and that I care enough to show them to do right when the rest of the world does wrong.  That God’s Word never changes and it is the standard to measure all things against. That I spend time with them, teach them, play with them and give their life order and security.  That I pray for each one of them to receive Christ, and follow Him every day of their lives. That they will never turn wayward, but rather walk in the Light and bring forth lots of fruit so there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they are children of God’s.  I pray for their purity in an impure world.  I pray for their future spouses to love the Lord and follow Him all the days of their lives. 4)  That I love orphans and I have compassion for them and I will reach out to orphans one way or another for the rest of my life.  5)  That I care about the lost and dying that are going to spend eternity in hell because of their unbelief.  That I regularly pray for eyes to be opened to the need of a Savior.  There is so much more that I could say, but these are the top five I could come up with this afternoon.

Anyway, this afternoon my parents, sister, niece and nephew came over to swim and jump on the trampoline.  It was nice to be able to spend Mother’s Day with my mom along with being able to spend it with my own children. It was the best of both worlds. My dad and Tim kept busy tearing down the playground.  The playground was actually a lot more dangerous than we even thought.  The whole thing just crumbled apart.  Dad and Tim could pull it apart with their hands.  I’m sad to see it go down because of so many fond memories of the kids playing on it, but I’m grateful that it came down so that no one else was hurt.  Dad and Tim found a giant Black Widow nest with at least 10 Black Widows and several of their white nests.  That was yet another hazard with the playground. 

Today certainly was a beautiful day around here with perfect blue skies and 80 degrees.  I am so thankful and blessed to have been called “Mama” by my children.  I love you guys so very much! 

Mothers, I hope you had a blessed Mother’s Day today. 

Kylie with her cousin

Tearing down the playground

The playground came down easier than it went up

Dad & Tim tearing it down

It's just a pile of rubbish ready to take to the land fill