Faith Through the Journey

The word “Mom” conjures up all sorts of images in the hearts and minds of every individual. Depending on the relationship between mother and child, there can be very sweet or painful memories associated with those images. With some, that relationship has come to an end here on earth, as moms have slipped into eternity. I hope everyone has at least one special memory of their mom that they can come back to with fondness. Some moms are at the other end of this journey into motherhood, just beginning with little ones and feeling rather uncertain about their ability to do this admittedly huge job. Still others are in the very busy years of driving their children to school, to sports activities, to concerts or music lessons, to parties, and also volunteering to help with each of these activities.

I am at an interesting stage of motherhood. My oldest two children are finished with college (and graduate school), married, and establishing their own homes. Learning to be a mom to adult children, to be a mother-in-law, to say less rather than too much, and to always be ready to encourage or give an opinion (but only if asked!). My youngest child is doing an internship in Colorado this summer and will graduate from college in August. From there, her future is less clear, and navigating those waters of encouragement vs. advice will still take skill and diplomacy. While the energy required for caring for young children is mainly physical, the energy required for parenting adult children is both emotional and mental. I love this stage of life, and I find that I still need to depend on the Lord for His equipping to handle this part of mothering as well.

My mom taught me how to be a mom, from the moment we brought our first child home and I had no idea how to care for an infant. I thought I had read enough and observed enough to know what I was doing. Not so!! I am so thankful that I didn’t damage our son in the early days of his life! While I soon figured out how to physically care for him, I had to learn how to have a relationship with the person he already was. If someone tells you that children are born blank slates, don’t believe them! They are born with very definite personalities and moms have to learn how to care for them in every way. For a laid-back mom to have a child with an intense personality, she may think that there is something wrong with either her or her child, when all that needs to happen is for her to learn how to parent a child of whatever temperament her child already posesses. I remember vividly the day my mom needed to go home and I was left with this tiny person for whom I was going to be responsible 24/7. We had to develop a relationship, person to person, and we learned how to understand each other and work together in order for him to become the independent, strong person he is today. With our next two children, I knew a lot more about their physical care but still had to understand who they were as people and learn to parent them according to their individual personalities. Today, I love each of them and who they are as people. As our children began to reach adulthood, a wise man told us that our role as parents would be changing from authorities to friends and, when asked, advisors. Remembering that advice has been challenging as we’ve learned to let go a little at a time as they have been ready to take more responsibility for their own lives.

Being a mom is the most rewarding, challenging, joyous, fun, exhausting occupation on earth, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I feel tremendously blessed to have been given three special gifts from God in the form of my children. There is no feeling like that of hearing the word “Mom” from the mouths of my children, for they (along with their spouses) are the only people on earth to call me by that name. Every good and perfect gift is from God, and I know that my husband and children are second only to my salvation through Jesus Christ as the best things in my life.

 Thank you, Lord, that you have seen fit to bless me with your very best gifts!