...like when it's early in the morning and your 11 year old wants to snuggle for a little while, even if it is just for a minute, before school. And they do it just because.
...and then there are those moments when someone needs prayer because an 8-inch thick portfolio that is basically someone's college life in a binder is due and needs to be presented the next day within a thirty-minute time frame and needs to be acceptable to graduate and the family prayers together while standing in the kitchen.
...or when your oldest daughter has worked her tail off and you see the joy on her face when what she has been striving for is within her grasp. (Yes, she PASSED!!!)
...like getting a text or phone call from your college chick who is in another state and she says she is looking forward to coming home for a while.
...or when your family gathers on a Sunday evening for a campfire and a walk in the pasture to say "Hey" to all the cows.
...and then there are those moments of crazy laughter together over things like double chins and turkey necks, fuzzy pink pajamas that shed fuzzy pink balls on everything, skirts taking flight on windy days in parking lots, and random donkey calls.
There are days that being a mama is not so easy and wonderful,
...like when your littlest has another headache and you wind up sleeping on the floor so he can have the couch and when you put a cool cloth on his forehead and give him a bucket "just in case" and you worry more than you'd like to admit.
...or when one of them has studied for a test and misses passing it by one lousy question and she has to wait a little while longer for her driver's permit and she feels stupid and the tears just won't stop coming and no matter what you try to say, it just can't make it feel better at that moment.
... and those days when you look back at all the field trips, concerts, ball games and recitals that you've missed because of a career and while it was sometimes necessary to work, it doesn't always take away the guilt that you feel.
...or the times that my kids have needed me and instead of serving with a glad heart, I have sighed audibly and made them feel less than important.
Being a mom is one of the greatest joys of my life; sometimes though, it brings pain because I love so deeply. Would I go back and change how I have done things? Make different choices? Yes. I think most of us would. Sometimes we wish we could go back and change the day before. But, since I can't, what I can do is embrace being a mama, at this stage, at this juncture of my life. I am reminded today that being a mama isn't just when they are newborns or toddlers. They don't just need you when they are in the preschool years or elementary school. Whether or not they admit it, a parent is important when they are teenagers and even when they are into adulthood. Hey, I still need my mama!
(And in case you might've forgotten, Mother's Day is this Sunday May 10th. Let your mama know that you love her!)
(To my children: This is not a hint or anything.
By the way, I love dogwood trees. And rose bushes.)
Love,
Dianne
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