The Paradoxes of My Mother's Day

The Serious
In many ways I love Mother's Day.  I don't get (nor do I want) lots of gifts, but it is so nice to be loved on by the people who love me.  A hug, a phone call, a smiling face screaming "Happy Mother's Day!" all bring great amounts of joy to my day.  And I love saying Happy Mother's Day to all of my friends who are mothers too.  I know how tough this job can be and yet they do it with joy and smiles and wouldn't have it any other way.
However, the one person I wish I could say Happy Mother's Day to isn't here anymore and I miss her so much still.  If she were here I'd give her a huge hug and let her know how much I appreciate her.  She had one of the warmest hearts for people - any people who crossed her paths.  She genuinely wanted everyone to experience life to the fullest, enjoying all that God had for them and to see them grow in their faith and abilities.  For me, she was the one I could always talk to about anything and I miss sharing my life with her.
I also feel some mixed emotion as a mom.  I have three fabulous children.  God has gifted them in so many wonderful ways and I feel so honored to be their mom and have a roll in shaping who they will become.  Tim and I have talked over the last few years about adoption from foster care.  So on mother's day I can't help but wonder if I have other children out who are not yet a part of our family.  This is exciting but also a bit sad on Mother's Day, knowing that I can't hug them too and imagining that they are probably living through some tough situations where I can't support them yet.

The Funny
A church friend and I were talking about what we wanted for Mother's Day.  She laughed and quoted her husband who said, "How come for Mother's Day, moms don't want to do any of the things that make them a mom?"  Isn't that true.  We ask for some time alone - away from the kids.  Restaurants are full because moms don't want to cook meals.  I simply wanted to have a day where I didn't do any dishes.  At some level this makes sense.  We celebrate moms and the work they do by giving them a day off.  But I also find it funny.  Really every day of my year should be Mother's Day and moms should have a day (or maybe a couple) where they can have a small respite from the 24/7ish of motherhood.  Maybe we should call it "Go ask your dad" Day or something.

My Reality
So how did my Mother's Day go?  It was fabulous.  I got flowers times 2, cards, and a small school gift from both Jon and Michael.



I got to spend the day with the people I love the most in this world (including Tim who was behind the camera for this shot).  :)


And check out the new background screen that was on my ipad when I got up in the morning: