Happy Mother's Day!

Mother kissing infant

How well I remember the moment it really started to sink in that I was a mom.

It was the middle of the night, and I was trying to beat back the lingering adrenaline rush and fall asleep a few hours after giving birth to dd24.

A nurse walked into the dimly lit room carrying a tiny pink-wrapped package, and said, "Here's your little angel, Mom."

Mom? Me? Well, the bracelets matched, so I guessed she had the right person.

The nurse handed me my baby girl, who stared into my eyes (I soon learned she liked being awake at 4 am). And at that moment, it hit me that I really, truly was a mom.

It's a sweet memory. As it turned out, over the next ten years I was fortunate enough to be handed three more packages totalling four in all, two pink and two blue.

What joy! What responsibility! Even now, it amazes me that God would loan out some of his best work to someone as flawed as I am. Good thing He looks out for all of his children. Because it's tough being a mom, and if it weren't for His help, how would I have managed?

Fast forward to May 1991. My doctor tells me that I'd better hope the baby comes before my due date, Memorial Day, because if she doesn't arrive until then, she'll easily hit 11 pounds. Ouch. But she's a wonderful child, so considerate to kick hard enough to break the water she lives in, so that I spend Mother's Day giving birth to her. At 9 lb. 9 1/4 oz., she's my biggest baby, but she's not 11 lbs. for which I am so grateful. And what a great Mother's Day gift!

I have great birth stories about my boys, too, but I won't go into them now because I've gone on about birth long enough. Yes, it's what turns us into moms, but what really counts is how we spend the rest of our lives loving our kids and doing the job God gave us when He loaned them to us.

I've been blessed to know some truly awesome moms. Some, like Sandy and Darlene and Bev, are my role models. Others, like Mary and Ann and Bobbi, are my friends and my encouragers, just by their existence. And then there were Julia and Linda, who died long before they were done mothering. Their smiles and their joy live on in their children, all of whom are now young adults.

To all moms everywhere, and especially to those who visit this blog and to those whose blogs I visit (you know who you are!), Happy Mother's Day!