Mother’s Day

“Homes are tremendously powerful places, because they are where people come from.
There is no more important thing that you could be doing.
You do not go home to hide from the world, you go home to change it.”
Rachel Jankovic

{mothers day 2014}

Yes, some are in their p.j’s and  rubber boots … we were in the middle of building the chicken run … but this is real life.

My Mother’s Day… I’m learning so much as a mother – things I never thought children would teach me … that you need to be 100% real all the time, you cannot fake your faith or relationship with God with your children, you cannot hide your character flaws, they bring out the best in you and they also provide circumstances for you to see your human flaws {lots of circumstances!} … they give you a reason to work on your character … to develop patience and un-ending love … they smile at you and love you even when you make mistakes … children are amazing and full of questions and will challenge you to *really* know your faith and your Bible … you need answers for their questions about God and Heaven and death and life … you must show them a real relationship with Jesus … they need to see you reading your Bible more than they will see you on the computer … they need to see that giving to and loving others is what the Lord has called us to do – motherhood is serving, it’s filling the sink with warm water and soapy bubbles and doing the dishes again and again and the 100th load of dirty-filled laundry without complaining … it’s staying up late to get extra chores done and getting up early {with joy?} to greet the day with a crowd of hungry, sleepy children … it’s rocking the newborn sweetly and singing words of love over her and it’s holding your oldest child’s hand in church when she wants to be near  you … it’s letting your children get good and dirty outside and not moaning over {another?} load of laundry to wash … it’s loving your husband the way God desires and finding your wholeness in the Lord, not man … it’s embracing the day and it’s challenges of pooh-smeared walls from your toddler who is being potty trained {oh yes, they do happen} to planting beautiful purple-blooming flowers in your garden with the sun shining to warm your soul … and it’s everything in between and it’s amazing.
It’s lovely.
It’s wonderful and challenging.
It’s a ministry.
It’s servanthood.
And despite what society says, it is important.

I pray all mothers realize how blessed they are … what a gift your children are …