.....during the week leading up to Mother's Day I am always reminded of how fortunate I have been to have a mother who is encouraging, loving and so present in my life.....likewise, I am also reminded of the gift it has been to have children of my own.....mind you, I am feeling extra emotional this first full week of May after rolling off a 7 day visit with my niece and nephew......several of those days I was able to have my nephew all by himself in my home with my own three children and it was blissful to have a 1,2,3 and 4 year old frolicking around our quaint Manhattan apartment.....it was joyful, fun and chaotic and I would relive it a thousand times over if I could.....
.....also in the last 12 hours, a good friend just welcomed her beautiful baby boy into the world, my 13 month old son is on the brink of walking, my oldest confidently performed in her tap recital today and my 3 year old has dolled out about 50 I love yous since she woke up from her somber......probably a result of being overly tired, but I'll take what I can get......it has been several days wrapped up into one full swoop of emotion that overwhelmed me this morning and ties into the reason we celebrate mothers this week.....
....Certainly, there is good reason to celebrate mothers....it is an extremely difficult job and there are moments where it is an unappreciated, grueling and exhausting occupation.....it requires patience, creativity, negotiating, compassion, humor, focus, and persistence......there are no days off, nor are there sick days.....there are days we shine and days we fail......however, there are monumental moments in time when none of this matters......there can be a small sliver in a rough day that causes one to say that they would repeat the hellacious moments so they could relive the small segment of minutes or even seconds to experience the sweetness and the gratitude it stirred from within.....and it is usually in those fleeting moments when I am reminded how impactful this job truly is.....
.....more to come for my Mother's Day post as I wrap my arms around all of the ways that we as mommas try to leave our legacy......it is a week that draws a lot of thought from me now that I am a mother myself.....in doing so, I am able to refocus on areas I want to stretch myself, ways in which I can grow as I fully come into my own in this role and how I can do it in a way that glorifies God.....
....we have more influence over our children than we realize.....
.....and with that awesome responsibility come the small glimmers that are often needed to help fuel us through the rough patches; the ones that will sustain us until the next shiny moment in time that gifts us with the fortitude we need to press on.....
....more from our week long visit with cousins later this week too.....
....signing off with the biggest laugh we had over the weekend....
....we crammed this entourage into 1000+ square feet.....
....there will be many stories that will be retold around the family dinner table for years to come....it was hot, crowded, uncomfortable, frustrating, sleepless and noisy....but there were thousands of glistening and sparkling moments that stopped us in our tracks and would have us vowing at the end of a long day that we would do it all over again if we could.....
....off to get my gleam on.....
