In honor of Mother's Day. . . .
What is a Mother?
Each of us are born with one....no denying that! And it simply takes no time at all to distinguish who that Mother is in our life unlike the little lost bird in Dr Seuss' "Are You My Mother?" book. Mothers come in all different packages, shapes and sizes with all having a very special uniqueness and love for their child(ren). No one Mother should ever be compared to another! I have ALWAYS despised the general summarizing and packaging up that ALL Mothers are this ____ and do this ____. I will forever and always dispute those sayings, thoughts, emails and such!! I don't know if it's my stubborness OR my uniqueness, but I always and undoubtedly find myself NOT in such silly lists. . . and then comparison comes to play. "Well, IF I'm not that or I don't do that....then I must not be the right Mother." God never gave us a checklist as Mother's to check off and see that we qualify. So the world should stop with the generalizing and summarizing and accept the fact that Mothers ....each and of their own.....are all different! God blesses us with our child(ren), places the love in our hearts to nurture them, and simply says "My love will guide you."
As my status stated "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." couldn't be truer especially for Mother's with near grown or grown children. Not that it doesn't apply for Mother's of younger children, but I'm not at that stage anymore and so I think of now. A Mother is one of the TOUGHEST things you will ever be and it is by far the toughest thing you will ever do! Being a Mother causes your heart to hurt with great pain, it causes you to rely upon God our Father to be all that you canNOT be for your children as they grow older, it causes your faith and trust to expand in ways you never would have imagined, it causes you to wonder if God will ever decide to change things for the better. . . . and it causes you to come to a point where you give your child(ren) to Him and say "They're yours God. I can't, but you can."
But just as we know there is pain, hurt and disappointment there is also the deep and meaningful rewards that come along as well.....and who doesn't love rewards?! Each child, in their own way and in their own timing, can bring a sweet smile to your face, pride, great amounts of love and joy! Some children are quick and easy to give and receive love....while others you quietly wait upon God's love to penetrate their hearts so that they too can give love and receive. Afterall, God is the author and perfector of both faith as well as love, so who better to give that child(ren) to. Sometimes it just may be that God is teaching us parents to wait upon and trust Him.....no matter what. There is no set time....only God's time.
I believe that each child God blesses us with has a specially chosen plan by God Himself. Jeremiah 29:11 testifies to that "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And there are times those "plans" do not fit our plans nor look like anything we could imagine as God's plans....but nonetheless....they indeed are. God knows best....in every sense of the word.....and it may very well be in those times of uncertainty and doubt of "Just what in the world could He be doing" that we lean heaviest upon Him. I also firmly believe that no child can ever mess up, change or even do away with God's plans no matter how worldly or rebellious they can be. Job 42:2 assures us of that fact "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." Now that doesn't mean they can't miss all the blessings He has in store for them if choosing to live a life of worldliness....for they can....but His plans shall still stand and succeed.....period. And it is also in the those times of not understanding the whys of what God allows into our child(ren) lives that we lean on the verse found in Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are NOT your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord," We know that God is never going to make a mistake with our children and He alone can bring out the beauty and harmony of His plans as He directs every facet of their lives. Besides, all crisis have already been met and overcome in and through HIM. We can trust in a loving Father who sovereignly controls our lives and theirs from beginning to end.
Comparison should NEVER be made of any child as well! My child does not think, act, look, excel, respect, love, give, talk, eat, sit, stand, run, nor sleep like your child and neither does yours in accordance with mine. They are each a unique and gifted blessing full of their very own potential and talents.... So why would there ever be a reason to compare?? God doesn't want us to go around measuring oursleves nor our children to others. When we do we always seem to come up lacking or boasting.....and if you ask me.....neither is right. And that doesn't just limit us to comparing our children to other people's children.....it also applies to children in the same family. No two children, HONESTLY, will ever be totally alike.....twins as well. We should rather praise, boast, proclaim our thankfulness in a God who saw fit to give us a piece of Him in so many unique and special ways through our children!
I don't know if these thoughts referring to being a Mother will mean anything at all to whoever may be reading. I just felt led to share me with you as always and this is what came to be.
I will leave you with this thought - - "The same God who gave us our children - these precious gifts of His love - is worthy and able to take care of them. He is worthy of our complete trust. Trust : A conscious acto fo placing each child in His hands. With that act comes a beautiful awareness that through each experience (social, emotional, physical and intellectual) He is at work in their lives. He is molding them into what He would have them become. Turning what we perceive as hurtful into His good. Turning their failures -and ours - into footsteps....footsteps towards Himself."
So what is a Mother?
Someone whom God calls and equips, loves and forgives, assures and reassures, and places the very heart of Himself in. That is what I believe a Mother is.
Sending my love to Mothers young and old and everywhere in between. God's blessings to each of you! :)
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