No Mom is as blessed as I ...

I often find myself thinking that I'm a complete failure as a Mom. I mess up royally ALL the time. If I allow my thoughts to dwell too long I sometimes worry that I've messed up my kids. Honestly I'm just a mess some days.

But when I allow myself to reflect on Christ, and all that HE has made me to be - I see the truth and that is that no matter how many times I fail - No matter how much I mess up - God loves me still, forgives me still, gives me grace and mercy every day. And guess what? So do my girls!! The spirit of Christ indwells them too. They love me and forgive me over and over again, no matter how many times I may fail them. And for that, I am eternally grateful and blessed!

These two precious girls have seen me at my worst - and I'm not just talking about the way I look in the morning with no makeup and stinky breath. I'm talking about the real down and dirty ugly parts of my personality and the real ugly things I have done and said. But they love me. THEY LOVE ME! It honestly brings tears to my eyes to think about how much they love me when I don't deserve their love.

I am blessed beyond any words I could say to be their Mama. It's been the hardest 8 & 1/2 years of my life - but the most rewarding and joyful and amazing years too. I have a hard time even remembering what my life was like before I was a Mom. It just feels like I've been a Mom to these girls for all my life. And I'm thankful that all my life the Lord was preparing me to be a Mom by using the amazing example of my own Mom.

As blessed as I am to BE a Mom, I'm am equally blessed to be a daughter to my own Mom. She embodies Christ in every sense of the word. She has been a source of love and strength and peace in my world for {almost} 34 years.

Through the childhood years like when I had the chicken pox on my 8th birthday, through the rough teenage years when I was crying about having braces and glasses all at the same time, through my early years of marriage when I knew she was praying for me even though we lived 1000's of miles away, through these past 6 yrs since my Dad died when I have had the blessing of living near her again and seeing her strength through grief .... through each and every transition I have been through in my life - she has been there for me. For me! She has never given up on me, even when I made some dumb decisions. She has never stopped praying for me. Whether it was for little things or big things - she has always been a prayer warrior that I can count on.

Her walk with the Lord is something I admire and something that constantly encourages me to press on and want to be more like her - more like Christ.

She's the kind of Mom who brings ME a card on Mother's day to tell me she's proud of the Mom I am.

I am thankful and blessed for my Mother in law too. I know so many people who have rocky relationships with their in laws - I am so thankful I am not one of them. My mother in law is a dear friend. She is another prayer warrior. I know that at any time I can call her up and she will pray and encourage and bless me with her words. I am sorry to say that I failed to get a picture with her today! oops! I will definitely have to add one soon. She is a special person in my life too.

Today I was so spoiled. My amazing husband gave me flowers, cards and a gift card. He made us eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast, then we went to church to worship and hear the message. After church we came home and had my Mom and my in laws come over for lunch. We gave them each some small gifts and some cards. I love to have them over on Mother's day so that we can honor them and thank them for their role in raising my hubby and I.

My hubby made a great lunch of chicken on the BBQ, pasta salad and beans. Then we had a giant cookie cake that was absolutely delish!

My girls made & gave me all sorts of neat things for Mother's day - homemade cards, shells that hold a little tea light candle, picture frames with shells glued around them, large rocks with their handprints, pansies for my garden, little foamy frames they made in Sunday school .... they are so sweet to me. I love how excited they get when they give something to me. I love all these little handmade treasures. These are the most precious gifts. These are the gifts I will cherish and remember for years.

And so now you can see why I said, 'no Mom is as blessed as I' ... because I truly am one of the most blessed Moms ever. And I am thankful that despite my failures, the Lord chose to bless me with my Mom, my mother in law and my beautiful daughters.

Today I posted this video on Facebook - it's called 'The Best Day' by Taylor Swift. And even though in the video Taylor is talking about having the best day with her Mom - I dedicated it to my girls. Because every day I get to be their Mom is the best day. I had the girls watch the video this afternoon and as they watched it I just sat there in tears. Happy tears of course. Because I'm just so blessed and so thankful and these really are the best days of my life.

Here is the video:





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