Motherhood

Now and then I wonder if I'm doing the right thing staying home and being, as I often hear, "just" a mom.  The overwhelming conclusion I come to again and again is yes, this is exactly where I should be and what I should be doing.  Recently that answer came to me in the form of a beautiful legacy.  On December 28 my friends Phil and Tim (and really Theresa too) lost their mom.  I didn't know Phyllis well.  I only met her a handful of times, but I have seen and heard the amazing impact she had in her sons' lives and in the lives of their friends.  She was a woman who loved the Lord and so she loved others as He did.  Phil shared that at Phyllis's memorial friends of his older brother got up and shared how in times their own families turned their backs on them Phyllis was there with a meal, a kind word, or a place sleep.  This is the kind of mom I want to be.  I want those in my life to know how deeply loved they are.  As my daughter (and any other children the Lord may bless us with) grow up I want their friends to know that I care for and support them.
As I thought about this I realized more and more that the women who have made the greatest impact on my life have often been mothers.  I don't have the words for all my own mother has taught me and done for me.  I can only say that all that she sowed in tears, prayers, and long nights with a broken heart have been used by God to draw me to Him and make me the woman I am today.  Some of you may also remember Aldeana who I wrote about last summer.  She is impacting lives in new ways even now.  These moms remind me why I fight through days I'm exhausted to chase a toddler who is running away in part to learn who she is.  I have been blessed to be entrusted with one of the most demanding, challenging, and rewarding ministries out there.  I get to be one of the most influential people in my daughter's life and in countless other lives by extension.  Thank you, Phyllis, Mom, Aldeana, and all you other remarkable moms who taught me the beauty and unending value of being a mother.