Being a Mom

Now that I have been a mom for 2 years now, celebrating Mother's Day has taken a whole new meaning. I always loved celebrating the special women in my life and thanking my mom for all that she has done and will do for me... but now I understand so much more how thankful I really am!

I have wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember. Having 2 siblings born when I was 1o and 12 really sparked the maternal instinct in me and so much that even through college with my friends I became a "mom" to them. I think back now that I actually am a mom and realize I had no clue ha! I never realized what a high calling being a mother is. I didnt have any idea the amount of selflessness, sacrifice, patience, endurance, and engery it would take. Nor did I understand how I could love 2 little people so much or they joy that they could bring me. Being a mom is the greatest thing I have ever done, apart from accepting Christ as my Savior and marrying JR. And those 3 things alone affect each other in major ways.

Making the decision to not only be a mom, but quit working and be a stay at home mom seemed to be a somewhat easy decision in the beginning. Yes I knew we would be sacrificing financially but we knew God would provide. I laughed when I saw on Good Morning America the other day, "the salary of a stay at home mom" they had calculated. $60K they said, providing 40 hrs a week of childcare (which is funny bc I know there are more hours in a day than that! Moms are never "off" ha), chaffeuring, tutoring, disciplining, cooking, cleaning, etc. Pretty funny to put a value on it but of course thats what you do when you think about it being a job, however I dont think there is enough money you could pay me to be AWAY from my boys. Yes eventually when they are in school I want to go back to work but my time at home with them is truly precious. I often have to remind myself of that when I have changed the 6th diaper, fed Carter 3 times, been up since 6am, Griffin is whining... AND its only 8am :)

I just recently was talking to a friend who is pregnant and about to experience motherhood for herself. "It is just hard to explain," I said, knowing that I could tell her so many things but until she actually experiences it for herself she wont truly know. Then I think to myself... and you have only done it for 2 years, imagine when the boys are in college how you will feel!

It is true, a mother's love is unmeasurable, never ends and is worth more than all the money in the world. I am so honored and blessed to be a Mom and will consider my life a success if one day when I go to be with Jesus that my boys say, "Our Mommy loved us SO much!"

To my mom- thank you for the love you have shown me for 28 years now, the sacrifices you have had to make along the way and for letting me know how proud you are that I am yours :)

And to the many other mothers out there who also have shown me so much love and what it means to be a mom, thank you as well!

Happy Mother's Day!