Happy Mother's Day!!

I have been thinking about what I should put in a Mother's Day post this year for a couple of days.  It seems like there should be something profound to say, but I haven't quite found it yet.  I decided to check through the blog to see what I had written on past Mother's days.  I discovered that I haven't written anything on some Mother's Days but I also found and reread some sweet posts on or near other Mother's Days. So it really added to the hodge-podge nature of the thoughts I have been having about Mother's Day.  So here it goes:

First--thoughts about my mom.  I was so lucky to have such a great mom and such a great woman and disciple of Christ to emulate!  How I love her.  I have thought more about her this Mother's day than I usually do.  I usually found myself focusing on my kids rather than missing her--because missing her is hard!

my dad and mom

me with my mom

mom and dad

Second, I have been thinking a lot about my own children.  It was a bit of a journey for me to become a mother and I don't think that awe of it really has ever left.  Certainly there were days when I wondered why someone ever left me in charge of the care, feeding, and cleaning of small humans--or even older ones.  I found mothering by far the hardest thing that I have ever done or continue to do!  It forced me to learn more about myself and make changes.  I am convinced that most of my personal growth has come from parenting.  But oh, how I love these five people I call my children:

Third, I think about the four women who also are mothers to my children.  We only had the privilege of meeting Jena's birth parents.  However, I still treasure all four of these women and some day whether on this earth or in the eternities, hope to embrace them and express my gratitude for their sacrifice in doing what they felt was best for this child that we share.  I hope to spend an afternoon or maybe a day telling them about our child--how they grew, what they were like, and how I loved them. Each Mother's Day weekend, on my children's birthdays and at other random times, I have prayed for them and hoped they had peace in their hearts about their decisions made so long ago.  I hope that they have people in their lives that they can remember the child they placed for adoption and talk about it when their hearts are full. I love and honor these four women with all of my heart.  I know that they love the son or daughter that we share and that they have not forgotten them.  And someday--I can't wait to introduce them to Scott, Ben, Tosha or Jena!

And it seems appropriate to end this post with a famous line from Jessica to Scott when she was five and he was four-- "You are lucky.  You have mom and a birth mom.  I am stuck just with mom."

They are all stuck with me--for now and all eternity!!  And nothing makes me happier.....(well, and being stuck with Gary, too.)