Mother's Day - Celebrating the Gift of Motherhood

Before I begin this post, I'd like to wish all Mothers a blessed Mother's Day...even if there is less than two hours left of the declared holiday.

Today has been a glorious day! I have truly relished the GIFT of motherhood! Everyone knows my love language is gifts, and I have been so blessed this Mother's Day to be GREATLY GIFTED by the men in my life! It is the thought that counts...

Yesterday I was down in the dungeon cleaning. No, not really the dungeon, actually our schoolroom! I was organizing, cleaning, purging, etc... Meanwhile, Reid and the four boys were outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Sunny, breezy, warm...

Franklin came in and pulled me outside to see the "Surprise." While I had been working inside, Reid and the boys had been planting flowers around our mailbox as a Mother's Day gift for me. Red salvia and marigolds. The boys chose the flowers, and they all worked on it! I felt so honored they had spent their time doing that for me! They even did planters for the front porch! I felt so loved! (There will be a picture of the finished product - I haven't taken one yet. Trust me, it's pretty!)

I drifted off to sleep last night whispering a prayer for some of the influential women in my life. My mother and some older women have been spiritual mothers to me. They have imparted wisdom for this journey of motherhood. I am grateful for each of them. My life has been molded and shaped partially through their influence. I have also learned from other women around me striving to raise their children in Godly homes where the love of Christ is reflected. I whispered gratitude to God for their impact as well. Each woman in my prayer has been a GIFT to me! Finally, I sang in my heart God's due praise for allowing me to be the mother of the four incredible boys he chose to give us. It was a sweet way to close Mother's Day Eve.

Today, I awoke about 7:00 am. My eyes quickly focused on my three oldest boys walking quietly into the bedroom. My oldest was carrying a tray with a special morning breakfast for me. Everyone plopped down on the bed as I enjoyed my hot raspberry muffins made by Franklin, my delicious coffee made by Weston, and the thinly sliced strawberries drizzled with chocolate by Mason. It was precious!

As I was sipping my coffee, the boys brought me all of their homemade Mother's Day Cards. (Homemade is ALWAYS best in my book!) Every cherished card was written in their own handwriting and contained their own personal sentiments to me. What more could a mother want?!?

The boys gave me one gift to open. It was a new shirt. I'd planned to wear it to church this morning, but much to my dismay, it was a little too form-fitting for me. Uh-oh. Too tight. I regretted telling them I would need to return it, but then the boys told me that Reid had picked it out for me so I would have something to open. :-) My husband is so thoughtful!

Later in the day, Reid asked if I noticed something different about the calendar. I hadn't. He informed me that part of my Mother's Day gift is that he and the boys are going to fix dinner FOUR NIGHTS during the next four weeks! YIPPEE! I am so excited! I was thrilled with that as well!

Tonight I received the perfect ending to this Mother's Day. I received a Mother's Day e-mail from Mathiang. He thanked me for my "virtues, wisdom, and kindness." Mathiang has been such a blessing in our lives! He had left me a message yesterday to wish me a Happy Mother's Day and I was thrilled to hear his voice! Franklin's card to me even stated that I was loved by six men...Mason, Franklin, Weston, Braden, Reid and Mathiang! He is really part of our family! What an honor that he would call me Mom. (This picture is from Christmas, but this entry would not be complete without his picture!)

We spent the afternoon with my family at my parent's house. I post about that later. I promised my hubby that I would only be on the computer for thirty minutes! No more time to write... Well, maybe just a few more sentences...

One more cool thing about today. The blog counter for this BLOG rolled over 5,000. I started the counter on the day after Thanksgiving last year. That means over the last six months, this BLOG has been read over 5,000 times. Thanks for reading it friends! It's been a wonderful outlet for me to write my thoughts, to vent my frustrations, to celebrate my joys of motherhood and pour out my difficulties in motherhood. This blog has served as my pulpit for preaching, my record keeping system for family "funnies" and my way to keep in touch with friends far away. I am grateful that you are interested in what is happening in our lives. Thank you!

In closing, I must say that one of God's greatest gifts to women is the gift of motherhood. I feel privileged to be a chosen one to help raise up the next generation! I praise God for my mother and father raising me up in a loving home as well. Praise be to God!