For Mother's Day

For Mother's Day

"Don't eat your food off the ground."

Those were the last words I said before writing this post.

Motherhood is nothing like I thought it would be, in the awesome ways and the challenging ways. I have two boys, ages 3 and 1. Needless to say I am constantly cleaning dirt off them and refereeing fights over toys :) I am nowhere close to a perfect mother. My kids watch too much TV, eat junk food sometimes, and our house is a mess. But we make lots of good memories, and they are loved more than words. I am working at being thankful for my imperfections because it teaches my sons the beauty of grace.

A few days ago I experienced one of the most obvious examples of my human frailty. We were eating lunch when my 3 year old started to choke on ½ a grape. I tried not to panic, thinking he would cough it up. He kept alternating ear piercing screams with no noise whatsoever (a much scrarier sound). No words can describe the helplessness I felt in that moment. After realizing it was not getting better, I called 911. They were awesome and talked me through it. Thankfully, the grape came up before the ambulance arrived. It would have been easy to spend all day beating myself up over my neglect to educate myself on the proper procedure for that situation. (I plan to remedy this very soon.) While I did engage in a little self-bashing, I had to choose to forgive myself. In my opinion, giving grace to myself is one of the hardest lessons in motherhood. What motherhood lessons have been the toughest or most important you?

To end this post, I want to say THANK YOU to all mothers (especially my own)!

Thank you for the many hours of lost beauty sleep. You are more beautiful because of your sacrifices.

Thank you for enduring the messes - in the house and all over you - and for all the baths/showers you've had to skip! Your heart is more pure because of your service.

Thank you for all the time you've spent playing games and attending kids' sports/music events instead of pursuing your own hobbies. Your time was spent in a manner which will not soon be forgotten.

Thank you for giving up a more indulgent lifestyle to give your kids the best care and opportunities you could. You are richer because of your investment.

Thank you most of all for the energy exerted in attending Bible classes, worship, and teaching me about God. The life you've gained will last into eternity.

Joy,

Mary Page