Sunday, May 8
Happy Mother's Day. Those are beautiful words. I am honored on so many levels to write those words.
I have been blessed by God to have been reared by a Christian woman who believes in Him above all else. God has given me two beautiful, amazing, healthy children. And He, in turn, gave me the tremdendous opportunity to be here with them to watch them grow, to teach them, to love them.
I have the luxury of having Christian women friends who are traveling this path of motherhood with me, and we are able to lean on one another through the thorny patches in the road. And that, I think, is one of the greatest blessings of my life.
Motherhood is so amazingly difficult that it sometimes wears on the best of us, despite our deep and soulful awareness of its beauty and promise. The support and encouragement of other mothers is integral to our survival and success in this crazy venture into mama-hood. Knowing that, I wonder why it is that mothers of all types seem to push and pull against one another, tearing one another down, instead of bonding together to create something stronger.
Working mothers versus stay at home moms. Mothers of one or two or 2.5 children versus those who long for a full quiver, as the saying goes. Mothers who homeschool versus mothers who send their children to public or private schools. Mothers who serve homecooked meals versus those whose best dishes arrive in paper wrappers. Mothers who drive gas-guzzling SUVs to haul their children to endless activities versus those who prefer a quieter existence. Don't we all fall into overlapping categories on different days? Don't we all have the same goals in mind - to rear capable, believing, polite, well-rounded individuals?
Wouldn't things work oh-so-much better if we took all of the time that we put into disagreeing into something more productive like helping one another? For this Mother's Day, my goal will be to be openly accepting of other mothers' choices, to be helpful as I can, to reward independence, to nurture mothers and their children around me.
Happy Mother's Day.
[ posted by Chel on Sunday, May 08, 2005 ]
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