When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

If I have learned anything about being a mother, I think the above quote is so true.  I can remember before having my son that I was pretty consumed with myself and what I wanted in life.  It was only after getting settled in when we brought him home from the hospital that I realized that my heart would forever go walking outside by body, and that almost every waking thought would be consumed with thoughts of my son…if he was hungry, warm enough, tired.  As he has grown, even when he is not with me I wonder how his day is going at school and if he is enjoying himself.  I’m sure the older he gets, these thoughts will evolve, but they will always be present in my mind.

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

One of my fervent prayers is that I make the most of the privilege of being my son’s mother.  It boggles my mind all the time that the Lord saw me and my laundry list of imperfections, yet he still thought that I was the very best person for raising this precious little boy.  Me. Some might argue that it’s nothing but simple biology, but I don’t see it that way.  And I firmly believe that even if biology itself doesn’t bring you to your child, that child was divinely chosen for you.

Mother – that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. ~T. DeWitt Talmage

This Mother’s Day, not only am I so grateful for my own son, but I am also very blessed to still have my own mother with me.  She raised me up to be a Christian (although, I’m a very imperfect one), she was always there for me in the most important of ways, and she modeled the love and care I have for my own son.  In so many big and small ways, she still proves daily that even though I am an adult, her heart for me still goes walking outside of her own body.

This week I have been bombarded on social media outlets, television, and radio about what moms are supposed to want this Mother’ Day….jewelry, flowers, pampering.  I’ll admit I sometimes find myself getting caught up in that, thinking I deserve to be pampered and doted upon on this day.  It’s only when I remember the four years of trying to become a mother and feeling as if I would never have a child that I realize that today isn’t about what material things the world thinks I need to feel loved on this day.  I feel my son’s love every day, when he still crawls into my lap at seven years old and hugs me tight…when he tells me he loves me out of the blue, when he brings me his teddy bear to sleep by me when I am taking a nap because he wants me to feel as safe and secure as I try to make him feel.  Those small things are something that cannot be store-bought and far more precious than jewels.

What do you want for Mother’s Day?

Today, I want to count my blessings for my own son, for my mother, for my grandmother, for my cousin who is finally about to become a mother after wanting to be one for so long.  Today, I remember all of those who miss their own mothers and pray that those precious memories will comfort them.  Today, I pray for my friends who are single mothers, that they feel the Lord carrying them as they shoulder some very big responsibilities by themselves.  I pray for some friends who have yet to become mothers who desperately want to be one, as I know what a hopeless feeling that can be.  I’m also grateful for “other mothers”, those women who have come into my life and loved me like a mother.

Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed. ~Linda Wooten