With Mother's Day coming up this weekend I wanna give a shout out to all the chefs, maids, nurses, taxi drivers, personal assistants, psychologists, and life coaches aka moms! Motherhood never ends, so whether you're in the stage of life where you're exhausted, feeling like you're not doing anything right, and you're praying the Lord mends the broken and bleeding heart you have from watching your babies grow up too quickly or in the stage where you're playing with the grand babies your babies blessed you with and praying the Lord let's you live long enough to play with your great grand babies, just know that you're in great company because mom's are nothing shy of magical beings. Like unicorns, only far more impressive because instead of a useless horn God gave us eyes in the back of our heads and the uncanny ability to detect a lie.
In honor of said Mother's Day, I've comprised a list of the top 5 things my mom did right and how they've made me a better mother to our sweet little girl! So, without further delay...
1. She taught me to love Jesus. She made sure we went to church, said prayers of thanks before we ate and prayers of protection at night, even at the youngest age. This is, by far, the greatest gift my mom ever gave me and Justin and I have been honored to pass said gift on to Felicity.
2. She let me cook with her. My mom was very hands on with us always encouraged a good learning experience, even if it meant more work for her. So, you rarely heard things like "get out of the kitchen, I'm making dinner" or "go play while I finish baking this cake for so and so." Instead, she'd let me "help" and showed me my way around a kitchen. Not only does my sweet little family benefit from the fact that she taught me to cook, but I've also carried on the "kitchen is a playground" mentality with Felicity and she LOVES helping me in the kitchen!
3. She made special occasions extra special. From birthdays to holidays to family get together's my mom knew how to celebrate! She'd deck out the house, bake up a storm, and buy us special outfits for special days and there are no words to explain how much that meant to me as a child and how much it still means to me as an adult with my own family. My husband has told me on many occasions how thankful he is for my love of celebrations and I know we'll be creating special memories and traditions with Felicity all throughout her childhood because my mom showed me how.
4. She showed me unconditional love. This is something that we take for granted as children, then we grow up and realize that not everyone has a mother who is capable of this kind of love. My mom had a poor example in the unconditional motherly love department, but she managed to break the pattern and let us know that right or wrong, we owned a part of her heart that no one else could ever fill. Trust me, we've had our fair share of altercations and she certainly hasn't agreed with every choice I've made, but I always knew I was loved and there wasn't a single thing I could do to change that.
5. She made a house a home. There's something that no amount of decor, photos on the wall, or organization can provide because that particular something comes from the heart. My mom had that. She WANTED to be our mom, she WANTED to make us dinner, play with us, and tuck us in. She not only wanted to, but truly enjoyed it, and that's what made our house a home. I feel that now that I'm a mom; like my heart is tethered to Felicity's and whatever makes her happy (obviously within reason) is what I want most because it's what makes me happy too. So, the majority of the time our home is filled with reading, singing, cooking, praying, blanket forts, cuddles, chasing, tickling, and an endless supply of laughter and my mom certainly played a part in making that happen for us.
My mom sounds pretty great, doesn't she? Now, go to tell your mom thank you for all she's done, all she does, and all she's yet to do!
In honor of said Mother's Day, I've comprised a list of the top 5 things my mom did right and how they've made me a better mother to our sweet little girl! So, without further delay...
1. She taught me to love Jesus. She made sure we went to church, said prayers of thanks before we ate and prayers of protection at night, even at the youngest age. This is, by far, the greatest gift my mom ever gave me and Justin and I have been honored to pass said gift on to Felicity.
2. She let me cook with her. My mom was very hands on with us always encouraged a good learning experience, even if it meant more work for her. So, you rarely heard things like "get out of the kitchen, I'm making dinner" or "go play while I finish baking this cake for so and so." Instead, she'd let me "help" and showed me my way around a kitchen. Not only does my sweet little family benefit from the fact that she taught me to cook, but I've also carried on the "kitchen is a playground" mentality with Felicity and she LOVES helping me in the kitchen!
3. She made special occasions extra special. From birthdays to holidays to family get together's my mom knew how to celebrate! She'd deck out the house, bake up a storm, and buy us special outfits for special days and there are no words to explain how much that meant to me as a child and how much it still means to me as an adult with my own family. My husband has told me on many occasions how thankful he is for my love of celebrations and I know we'll be creating special memories and traditions with Felicity all throughout her childhood because my mom showed me how.
4. She showed me unconditional love. This is something that we take for granted as children, then we grow up and realize that not everyone has a mother who is capable of this kind of love. My mom had a poor example in the unconditional motherly love department, but she managed to break the pattern and let us know that right or wrong, we owned a part of her heart that no one else could ever fill. Trust me, we've had our fair share of altercations and she certainly hasn't agreed with every choice I've made, but I always knew I was loved and there wasn't a single thing I could do to change that.
5. She made a house a home. There's something that no amount of decor, photos on the wall, or organization can provide because that particular something comes from the heart. My mom had that. She WANTED to be our mom, she WANTED to make us dinner, play with us, and tuck us in. She not only wanted to, but truly enjoyed it, and that's what made our house a home. I feel that now that I'm a mom; like my heart is tethered to Felicity's and whatever makes her happy (obviously within reason) is what I want most because it's what makes me happy too. So, the majority of the time our home is filled with reading, singing, cooking, praying, blanket forts, cuddles, chasing, tickling, and an endless supply of laughter and my mom certainly played a part in making that happen for us.
My mom sounds pretty great, doesn't she? Now, go to tell your mom thank you for all she's done, all she does, and all she's yet to do!