A League of Our Own

It seems like almost every day last week, I was staring down the face of motherhood in some huge ways. I was surrounded on all sides by many different ideas of being a mom.

On Monday morning, one of my best friends, Jessica, gave birth to her second daughter. What an incredibly sweet thing to be a part of. I got to sit in the waiting room with her family and her daughter and then race to the nursery when we got the news that Peyton was here. I got to see Jessica shortly after giving birth and the light in her eyes that was all about Peyton gave me goose bumps. I can't wait to be that MOM again.

On Monday afternoon, I got a text from my brother that they're having a BOY! Nancy was thrilled (so was he - but this is about moms). She sent ultrasound pictures and just looking at his spine and hands and feet was breathtaking for me and I can remember how it felt to be that MOM.

On Tuesday morning, I emailed with a friend who told me of her recent miscarriage. My heart broke for that woman longing to be a MOM.

Later on Tuesday, I received news that a longtime friend of mine had just lost her 4 week old son. I sobbed for that MOM.

On Thursday, I attended the funeral for the little boy whose short life touched so many people. I sat with 3 other lifelong girlfriends. Two of these girls (women, actually) had each been given fatal and near fatal diagnoses of their children while in utero. One little boy is now 3 years old and the other turned one in January. These MOMs understand the miracle of life in its truest form. I watched from several rows back at the funeral as my friend who was saying goodbye to her son was cradled, literally, by her own mother. As my friend's shoulders shook from the uncontrollable crying, her mom squeezed her tighter and tighter and never let go. That MOM is tougher than steel.

On Sunday, I made breakfast for my Sunday school class using two of my grandmother's recipes. I had her handwritten recipe cards and couldn't help but wish she was there in the kitchen with me while I was cooking. She wouldn't even have to look at the cards and she wouldn't actually measure anything. That was an amazing MOM.

I spent Sunday afternoon with my mom at lunch and opened some really sweet cards from her and my dad. I always get two cards for every occasion. That is simply my MOM! The other part of the afternoon was spent with my mother in law and her mother watching cousins play with water guns and look for bugs. What an awesome time to reflect during the presence of four generations of family with those MOMs.

I am not any of those moms I encountered this week. Nor am I my friend who is celebrating Mother's Day for the first time with little twin boys after battling infertility. I am not my friend who lost both her grandmothers in a year. I am not my friend whose mom died when she was a teenager. I am not my friend who lives a thousand miles away from her mom and sisters. I am not my friend who boards a plane in just a few days to go meet her son she will soon adopt.

I am this MOM...

I am easily irritated at things that don't matter.
I am easily overjoyed at things that do matter.
I love to hear my daughter say "Mommy, don't go." But I hate it too.
I am the mom who has bows in every color for her daughter.
I am the mom who leaves for work every day and thanks God for a job to go to and a daughter and family to come home to.
I am the mom who struggles to find a balance between life's demands.
I have yelled at my daughter louder and longer than I care to admit.
I don't do a good job making sure my child eats properly.
I measure her height on the back of the laundry room door.
I let her go to bed with wet hair sometimes.
I forgot to make her brush her teeth tonight.
I love Wednesdays because she goes to school and always comes home with a craft.
I love watching movies through her eyes.
I have her pictures all over my desk.
I share milkshakes with her.
I discover new ways to "pretend."
I do summersaults in the grass.
I shove medicine down her throat because she hates most medicine.
I clean up throw up.
I change diapers (hopefully not too much longer).
I lay in bed with her for just "a few more minutes."
I smile at her love for her daddy.

But the truth is, none of us moms are any different after all. We are all MOMS. We love our children with every fiber of our being. We read books on how to be better moms. We try to give them an equal balance of what they want and what they need with a few sides of "because I said so" just for good measure. We pray for our children. We pray for ourselves as their mothers. Our hearts hurt when they hurt and you better not be the one to have hurt them. We rejoice when children are born because we know a new MOM was born that day too. We love our moms and usually end up just like them.

We rejoice. We marvel. We miscarry. We lose. We witness miracles. We sustain. We nourish. We remain long after we've gone.

We are weak but incredibly strong. We are steady but so unstable. We are real and magic. We are MOMs.

I'm so proud to be a mom and while part of that pride comes from being a mom to my wonderful daughter, most of the pride comes from being in a distinguished society of women whom God has called to be mothers.