Momma

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.  ~Robert Brault

How beautifully accurate is this quote? I believe that Mother's Day is on the same level with Thanksgiving, and I took some time yesterday to do just that....give thanks. Mother's Day is the perfect opportunity for me to count my blessings, because there is certainly no greater gift than being a mother and having a mother that is a constant inspiration in my life.

I love the above quote for the reason that I never understood how much praying my mother did on my behalf until I had my little ones. I constantly pray for my children's safety, health and happiness. I pray for myself and my husband, asking God to guide us in this incredible journey of parenthood and help us to raise children that will be strong Christians with steadfast morals. There are many days that I pray for my sanity, I pray for patience and I pray that God will help me to focus on the fact that the piles of toys covering our floor means that we have a healthy child who is able to strow them all over the house.

I pray for my mother, and constantly pray that I will be atleast half the mother and woman she is. I pray prayers of thanks that I have a mother who is present while I am raising children of my own, not only to give me words of encouragement and advice, but to also give my children the love that she has always given me.

I remember my mother telling me that since the day I received my driver's license, she has said a prayer every time she hears a siren. I thought it was so silly at the time, but now I catch myself doing the same every time my children aren't within my sight. It seems that these days, those sort of things are happening a lot. I am slowly realizing that I am becoming my mother. There are times that I open my mouth and before I finish the sentence think "Holy crap, could I sound more like momma?!" It is terrifying and beautiful all at the same time.

It has taken me thirty years and two kids to realize it, but I am perfectly content with evolving into the women that only 10 years ago I thought was off her rocker. I now look back at my teenage years and see the things that she made me do that I thought at the time had certainly ruined my life, and realize that they actually made my life become what it is today. It amazes me to think how my mother gave up so much to give me so much. She is without a doubt the most selfless woman I know.

I know that I am still evolving in this way, because yesterday I told my husband that it was "my day" and that I planned to sleep all day, do what I wanted to do, etc. Yet, do you know what my mother was doing yesterday on "her day"? She was doing the same thing that she has done tirelessly since April 27...devote all her time to working to restore power to the many families on Sand Mountain that were affected by the devastating tornado. When I asked her on Friday how many hours she had put in in the week and 2 days since the tornado, her answer was "over 150." Over 150 hours in one week and 2 days. No complaints, no "I am exhausted", just happiness over the fact that she is able to work, while many people on Sand Mountain feel they have nothing left to work for. That, my friend, is the kind of selflessness that I strive to have one day.

One thing that I think best describes the kind of woman my mother is, is this....My parents got divorced when I was fourteen. In what had to be the most difficult moment in my mother's life, she made a promise to me. She promised me that she would not go on one date until I went off to college and was out of the house. She felt that this was what was best for me, and it did not matter what might be best for her. She wanted to devote everything within her to raising me during the awkward and crazy teenage years, and she did just that. She devoted everything within her to me. How blessed am I?!

So, this Mother's Day I made myself a promise. I promised myself that I would never stop praying...praying for my children, praying for the mother's who lost their children or their own mothers in the tragic events of April 27, praying prayers of thanks for the gift of being a mother, praying for my mother and praying for my own selflessness as a mother.

For the reason that I can pick up a phone and hear my mother's voice on the other end, and for the reason that I can hold two precious angels in my arms each night, I am forever grateful.