Happy Mother's Day

Hi, gals! What another great MOPS meeting! I have enjoyed every meeting and so look forward to them each month. I can’t begin to tell you what an incredible blessing MOPS has been to me. I volunteered as a mentor, hoping to be a blessing despite myself; I ended up being blessed far beyond measure. Isn’t that so God, though? He is so awesome!! We only have one more MOPS meeting left, but I am already looking forward to next year! I hope your fitness challenge is going well. We only have 27 official days left, but I hope that this healthy lifestyle is a lifelong endeavor for all of us. You’re doing a great job—keep it up! Remember, you’ve got to move it move it!!

So, I was thinking…motherhood can be very “challenging”, I’m sure we’ll all agree. But suddenly Eve came to mind. Just when I think my issues with my children are tough, look at her. First of all, she was the first one pregnant, EVER!! No mother to talk to and get family history and perspective on motherhood. No prenatal care. No Lamaze videos to watch and know what to expect. No classes on breathing (which went out the window for me when the first mega-contraction came along—my husband says I spoke French). No “mommy” books from which to gather pointers. No girlfriends to talk to. No MOPS support group! The list goes on and on. But yet she had a powerful ally—God. (Remember, you and God are a majority.) And then I think about her sons, Cain and Abel, and how that turned out. Can you imagine the heartbreak? We read the accounts in the Bible, and we have to remember that Eve was a real woman—and the first mother! This is not just a story. I thought about my own situation almost 22 years ago. I did not grow up around children or babies, and when I was pregnant with my first, I wondered how in the world I would manage. But I did, by the grace of God. Toughest job in the world/most important job in the world/most rewarding job in the world/most permanent job in the world. I remember a specific instance of my mother telling my oldest sister, who was in her 40’s at the time, how to drive. Motherhood: great job security—once a mom, always a mom.

Well, gals, Happy Mother’s Day!!! I hope you have a blessed one; you are special!! I have to say, though, that my best mother’s days have not been on the second Sunday in May. They have been those days where my children will do something unprompted, unexpected, unscripted to let me know that they love me. Those are the mother’s days I cherish the most. I think about my mother and what I did for a “mother’s day” that meant the most to her. Sure, I always acknowledged Mother’s Day; we’ll all admit we’d be disappointed if there was not some kind of acknowledgement of the second Sunday in May. But one of my fondest memories with my mother happened back in the late 80’s. Mom was dying of cancer. She had started chemo, and my husband and I went to visit her and my dad (we lived in Arkansas; they lived in Alabama) for the weekend. For the past several years, every time that we visited, I would do my mother’s hair and makeup, and she loved that. Now, clumps of her hair were falling out due to the chemo, and she was upset about how her hair looked. She was wearing wigs, but what hair she had left was bothering her under her wig. I took her outside, and I proceeded to shave her head. Suddenly, she felt empowered. That moment that she looked in the mirror with peace and joy in her eyes is one that I’ll never forget. I thank God that, when the doctor gave her the cancer diagnosis and 2 ½ months to live, she lived a little over two years and got to see my firstborn daughter. Regardless of the circumstances or family history, thank God for your mother, and for your children. They are both incredible gifts from God, and He gave them specifically to YOU.

So enjoy the day, even if it doesn’t turn out the way you envisioned. You’ll have another mother’s day very soon, and it will mean that much more because it didn’t fall on the day everyone said it should. I, for one, am turning on my pepper lights (that I leave up year-round), putting on some music, and making a fabulous Mexican dinner for my family. Ole!! Oh, and one more thing—call your mother; she worries………Blessings—Suzanne.