Motherhood

I sure do enjoy being lavished with handmade gifts, treated to breakfast in bed and a day of relaxation, but sometimes it feels a little disingenuous to dedicate an entire day to the celebration of motherhood--a celebration of a sacred calling, a divine partnership, a holy and noble role. With every sacrament meeting speaker, every Sunday school lesson, and--shoot--every Hallmark card describing motherhood with a combination of reverence and awe, I'm left feeling like clearly I must not be doing it right because, whatever it is that I'm doing, most definitely does NOT feel holy and sacred. I wish I could say that motherhood was all holding hands and singing "Love At Home," but the kind of motherhood I know involves standing in a torrential downpour in the freezing cold to support a kid's soccer game, sanitizing a kitchen table that was puked on seconds after sitting down to eat dinner, burning a finger cooking paste for a kindergarten paper mâché diarama project, rocking a baby to sleep who badly needed a nap but wouldn't give in, and sharing the bed with a toddler who was too scared by the thunder to sleep in his own bed (all actual, ordinary, excerpts from Mother's Day weekend). How is that for sacred and holy?! Although my day to day feels more down and dirty than holy, in a single day, I became my childrens' cheerleader, nurse, educator, nurturer, and protector....and I guess that means that even from my position deep in the trenches, the work that I do--the nitty gritty--matters! And so on Mother's Day I am celebrating real motherhood--a job that can often be very tedious and test me to the point of breaking, while at the same time fill me with a complete sense of purpose, contentment, and infinite room for personal growth.

Some of my Mother's Day "treasures":

Every Mother's Day brings a deeper sense of gratitude and respect for the mothers in my life--my mom-friends who lock arms with me along the path of motherhood, my dear mother-in-law who serves and supports our family in countless ways, and my own mother whose friendship I'm certain began before this earth. I'm blessed to know such strong women who are examples to me of patience, compassion, and selflessness.

I love these boys of mine and I'm humbled with the responsibility entrusted to me in raising them.