A Mother's Day.

Mother’s Day, like chocolate, is sometimes sweet and sometimes….semi-sweet. A month ago I lost my mom unexpectedly to bacterial meningitis, she will spend this Mother’s Day in Heaven. Perhaps she will spend it playing with Matea, the baby girl I lost four years ago; that makes me smile. Still, I miss my mom. I miss her and yet I feel blessed for the years she mothered me and the imprint she leaves on my heart.

Motherhood. A few years back my mom sent my sister one of those encouraging magnets for her refrigerator. It read: “The first forty years of parenting is the hardest”. I get it. My son is two; when I do not know where he is I worry, it means a mess is likely unfolding somewhere in my house. Still, I will take that kind of worry any day over wondering where he is because the army has deployed him on a top secret mission. Little kids, little worries; big kids, big worries.

I want what every mom wants for her children- “the best”. The best food, the best air, the best opportunities. The best discipline, the best schooling, the best love. Simply trying to give your kids the best can be exhausting, not to mention confusing. Feed them eggs, no, only organic eggs, just the white, on second thought the yolk too. Use sunscreen, maybe not, chemicals. Do people telling us to not vaccinate even know what polio is? Sigh.

No one is perfect but I will say this about my mom: she was perfect for me. My mom taught me stewardship, to tend carefully to the life God has given me, but also to enjoy that life.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15 (ESV).

Celebrate. Holidays. Birthdays. Every day. Show compassion. Include others. Send a word of encouragement. Do not worry so much about what part of the egg you eat, be thankful you can eat. Sunscreen or not, bask in the sun. A prepackaged, processed sugar ball every now and then will not ruin your life; it may actually enhance it. Rather than try and create the perfect world for me, my mom taught me to make the most of this imperfect world we are in.

Normal is just a setting on a dryer she would say. Trust God for grace in the hard moments, thank Him for the moments of pure joy. You do not have to be a mom to have a mother’s heart, to want the best for the people you love. A mother’s heart is just a glimpse of the heart of God. God wants the best for His children and He is preparing it. Meanwhile He gives us many of us the gift of motherhood, or the gift of a mother’s heart. With these hearts we strive, not to create a perfect world for those we love, but to help those we love in this imperfect world, trust Him more perfectly.

I am glad for my mom. I am glad she drove me to the orthodontist so I can smile at you without crooked teeth. I am glad she took me to piano lessons and made me practice so I can play the piano today. But mostly I am glad she gave me so much to smile about, to sing about, and that part did not cost her any money. She gave me the best by simply giving me what she had, gratitude and a whole lot of love.  That is what motherhood is- God’s love, with skin on.

No matter what emotions this Mother’s Day brings, I pray it finds us in God’s Love.

I pray that knowing His Love heightens our joys and lightens our sorrows. I pray we can do what my mom did.

Walk in gratitude.

Give our best.

Endure the hard stuff. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Celebrate lots of stuff.

God promises His children this:

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 66:13 (ESV)

Know it and believe it. Feel love. Feel comfort. Share love. Share comfort.

Find love with skin on, and celebrate!

"As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

                                                                                                          Isaiah 66:13 (ESV)