Mother's Day

Mixed emotions. Mother's Day brings them every year. As sure as you can count on trees to bud and flowers to bloom this time of year, I can count on mixed emotions to spring up.

Happiness. I love my mom. She was not perfect, but she was perfect for me. I love my kids, not perfect but perfect for me. In my imperfection, I ponder with grateful awe the priviledge to receive and to give a mother's love.

Sadness. I miss my mom, who living in the perfect delights of Heaven, is not missing anything of earth. I miss my stillborn daughter who lives there too. The heartache returns, not just for me, but for so many in this world. Infertility, Miscarriage. Children- unwanted. Mothers who have lost children before their time. Children who have lost mothers before their time. I walk into the grocery store lined with beautiful brightly colored greeting cards, flowers, chocolates, and perfume. Mother's Day seems so perfect, except that it is not. How I pray for God to comfort the broken-hearted. For strained relationships to be healed. For hope to bloom this Mother's Day, not just for the picture perfect family, but for the everyone who has or had a mom, who wants to be a mom or a mom again, who aspires to have or be the perfect mother (or perfect anything). Life is not perfect. Still, it offers moments of happiness. So Happy Mother's Day- and I truly mean the happy part. For those of you aspiring to be a perfect mother (or perfect anything) and find yourself coming up short, relax. Let a bloom of gratitude spring up in your heart today. You don't have to be the perfect anything to enjoy this day.

And for those of you who can't let go of your quest for perfect motherhood- I hope you smile to read about the....

Modern Proverbs 31 Women