My Mommy...

Today is my mom's birthday, she is turning 25...times two.

As I am now a mom myself, I have a new and greater appreciation for my mom. I understand better how hard she has worked for us and what she means when she tells us that we are like pieces of her heart walking around. I get now why she gets all teary about things I used to tease her about. And I have enormous gratitude for her being pregnant and giving birth to all of us after having my own turn at it!

I look back on my childhood and appreciate how much work it must have been to have 4 tiny kids and a husband traveling all the time and to be homeschooling and holding everything together. I have so many amazing memories from being little and knowing how intentional she had to be to make those happen for me motivates me to do the same for my kids, even when these "little years" get overwhelming. Pretty much everything I do as a mom comes from what I learned from my mom. I'm so grateful for her example. I feel like any admirable attributes I have as a mother I have learned from watching her. I remember her truly delighting in her children. She would always get down on the floor with us to play, read us book after book, and let us get messy and try all sorts of things. I don't ever remember her telling us we couldn't do something cause it was too loud or messy--instead she just told us to take it outside. She encouraged our imaginations. Sang us silly songs all the time. Turned up the music loud and danced with us. Always let us help her with what she was doing, even if it made it take five times longer. Taught us how to turn the mundane into adventures. We loved even just going to the grocery store with her because she made it fun---letting us get samples, pushing us crazy in the cart down the aisles, letting us ride the penny horse at the end. She sent us outside all the time and let us do things like tube down our ditch, wander back in the fields behind our house, shoot bb guns and chop wood with axes, pull each other in sleds on the riding lawnmower, have picnics on the roof and walk to the corner store for candy. She grew up surrounded by boys and has always seemed to understand so well how they work.  I want to remember these things for my boys. When my brothers were restless during school she would send them out to run around the yard or jump on the tramp or even to dig a giant hole in the pasture. She would read out loud to us and let us play with legos or color while we listened. She was committed to helping us learn how to learn and to love it and would try method after method for some of us until she figured out what worked. As a child I remember feeling bad for moms that had to go to work all day because my mom had so much fun at home with us. I know now that being at home with kids can have very hard moments, but I don't remember her being overwhelmed or exhausted. I remember her joy.

I was always "my mother's daughter" as people would say. I take that as a compliment, that people would think I was like her. She has always been one of my best friends. From taking me to tea parties and watching Anne of Green Gables and playing dolls with me as a kid to now shopping (and may I just say, she is the most stylish mom I know!), reading magazines and talking on the phone every single day--I love hanging out with her. In fact, everyone does. I have never had a friend who didn't like my mom (or my dad) and I don't think my siblings have either. I have been told "your mom is so cool" more times than I can count, by people of all ages. People love to be with her. On any given night, her house may be filled with any number of people. They are sitting on the couches, out on the patio, gathered round the island. There are many things that draw people to her---she likes to have fun, she is easy-going and easy to talk to, she will bake her famous cookies at any time of the day or night, she likes to feed people. But all those things flow out of something bigger. Mostly, people love to be with my mom because she loves them. She is one of the greatest examples of how to love others that I know. She is always doing things to serve and encourage others. When you talk to her, she speaks out of love for you. She wants to learn more about you and your heart so that she can better care for and pray for you. She carries so many people on her heart and lifts them up in prayer. Her life is one of love and service and laying down herself for others. And that also flows out of something bigger---her love for Jesus. She has a relationship with God that provokes and inspires me. I want what she has. As I have come to understand the Gospel more and grown in my own relationship with God, I have grown increasingly grateful for a mother who lives a life passionate for her Savior and demonstrates his grace to her children. When we fail and fall, she points us back to the Gospel. We know she stills loves us, no matter how badly we screw up and she reminds us that more importantly HE loves us, no matter how badly we screw up. That we have complete obedience in Christ and God looks on us as his children. Even more than she loves her children, he loves us as his. And that is the biggest reason why I want to be my mother's daughter. Why I want to be like her, as a mother and just in life. I want to know God the way she does and live a life that reflects his love to those around me.

As I write this, I began to realize I am pretty much writing a list of all the things I hope to be as a mother and as a woman. There is the old joke about women trying not to turn into their mother. That isn't the case for me---nothing would please me more. She is the best and I am so grateful for her and how God has used her in my life.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!