Happy Mother's Day!

So far Mother’s Day weekend has had its ups and downs. We had to run some errands yesterday and Maren was not amused. She refused to get her haircut and screamed all through the store.

When we got home she cried for a long time in her crib. I picked her up and laid down with her.
I was going to get back up when Mike left with the other kids for the annual “Mother’s Day Craft”. All the guys and kids make something to hand out to the Mom’s at church. Last year it was corsages, this year: chocolates in hand- decorated bags. They practiced music and are using the kids as the Worship Team. After I laid down with Maren I fell asleep, didn’t wake up until I heard them come back 2 hours later! Awesome. I haven’t had a nap like that in years!

I got an ice cream maker. The kids had already spoiled the surprise but I still put on a good show. Now I have a good use for all the cream we take off our farm milk.

Waking up to hugs and homemade cards are great parts of Mother’s Day. After church I made egg salad sandwiches which most people did not appreciate and chased around a naked child. I cleaned up the mess. I broke up numerous fights involving a light sabre while Mike watched NASCAR. Mother’s Day can’t be perfect right? And although I like the feelings Mother’s Day brings, I want to feel this way EVERYDAY! I want to feel like there is nothing more important for me to do on this earth. I know that I just don’t always feel it.

As I was thinking about Mother’s Day, I was reminded of the passion God has given me for mothering. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with my wonderful, wild, imperfect, lovable kids and trusted me with the job of raising them to love Him. I am so thankful that He has transformed me through this job into a more humble, less selfish person: someone more like Him.

When Mother’s Day comes I am thankful for the time my Mom and Mother-in Law poured into me and Mike and the example our parents were (and are) to us.

And I’m thankful for you, because you are doing important work in the lives of your kids. As you pour your time, energy and love into them they are seeing the love of Jesus. The people around you may not notice, the world may think you are wasting your life and talent, but God knows. God cares. And God loves the work you are doing. That gives me just what I need to keep at it, to work as unto the Lord giving myself completely and humbly to Him, in thankfulness.

I think it’s so amazing that God uses examples from parenting and marriage in the Bible. He uses the things we know so well to drive home his point! Once you’ve nursed a baby and know how all-consuming that is, you get what God is trying to say here!

Isaiah 49:15-18
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
Your sons hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your sons gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will wear them as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.”

Even when we feel like we’ve been forgotten and left behind, there is One that has not forgotten. He has our names engraved on the palm of his hands. Isn’t that amazing?

So, Happy Mother’s Day! May you have a day filled with joy and family. And may you press on in your missionary adventures for His glory!