Happy Mothers Day 2022!

I want to tell you a story of when I made Mother of the Year at our church. No, this is not a bragging story about myself. This is a story of self pity, a lack of faith, and listening to the enemy.

This is a true story and happened many years ago. Back when we had three boys. A set of twins and a single. I was homeschooling them at that point in time, the twins were in second grade and our single in kindergarten. To give some backstory, I had always wanted a girl. I had a girls name picked out since I can remember. With having three children, and all boys, I had pretty much accepted the fact that our family was complete. I was trying to come to an acceptance that God had different plans than what I had, and that His plans were perfect. (And they are!) But that’s easier said than accepted. 

Mother’s Day was approaching and our church put together a Mother Daughter banquet for all of the mothers and daughters. More backstory, I love these types of events, I live for them! Unfortunately both my mom, mother-in-law, and step-mom were living in different states. Then there was that nagging fact that I only had sons, no daughter. 

So I refused to go.  I stayed home feeling sorry for myself. Even though this happened many years ago, I still remember the feelings I had. Feelings of jealousy, abandonment, rejection, loneliness, and sadness just to name a few. I didn’t think anybody cared, or even understood how I felt. All night of the Mother Daughter Event, and into the next day, I moped around in depression, soaking in the self pity. 

I was sitting on the porch swing on our front porch sulking, when it happened. A lady from our church drove up to the front of our house. She walked towards me holding a beautiful basket of a Bleeding Heart plant, with flowers effortlessly flowing over the edges. With a huge smile and eyes of concern, she asked how I was. She then proceeded to tell me how much all the lady’s at the banquet really missed me. And then, if that wasn’t enough to make me want to crawl under a rock, she gave me the flowers and told me that I won the Mother of the Year award. I’m in shock! I mean, me? How embarrassed I was, and humbled, and horrified at my feelings and thoughts! I immediately felt so sorry for the way I reacted and for my actions. How do you tell this person who represents our church, sharing with me an honor that I felt truthfully should have gone to another mother, that I didn’t go because I was having a pity party about not having a daughter! How petty is that? 

But, as hard as this lesson was, it showed me, again, just how much our Heavenly Father cares for us, for me. A Bleeding Heart Plant? Really? I mean does our Heavenly Father have a sense of humor or what? 

The lessons I learned that day changed my life, my thinking, and my outlook on being a mom, as well as being a daughter of God. 

That humbling experience shocked me into realizing how God is in control, how my life is a blessing, and how I have absolutely nothing to complain about. So, I accepted the fact that our family of five was finished and gave away all our baby clothes, furniture and supplies. 

I became an advocate of Mother Daughter Banquets being for all women, even if they don’t have children or of course, daughters.

I had listened to the enemy that day. The enemy kept whispering in my ear that what I wanted didn’t matter. That I wasn’t important enough to have my desire of my heart. That others were more special than I was. Guess what? That’s a lie! God knows us best and knows what’s best for us! Sometimes what we want is not the best for us. So I accepted that. 

In my case, God surprised us with another child just a year later. Yes, you guessed it, a girl. Our daughter. I was already blessed, it took me a bit to realize it. And God didn’t have to bless us with a daughter, but He did. 

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to expect the unexpected. Be satisfied with what we have, in our moment. Keep our eyes on God not ourselves. And, we’ll never be disappointed.

I’ve included a couple of special Mothers Day pictures below. One is a very special Mother Daughter Banquet that I had with my daughter and mother-in-law. My mother-in law is such a sweet blessing in my life, more ways than I could ever share. She’s at peace in Heaven with our Heavenly Father now, but definitely miss her here on earth. 

The other is a special Mother’s Day with my daughter and mom. 

I also am including a couple of family pictures! Then and now. (FYI the family is now much larger than just the six of us! To keep on the subject of this blog I’ll stop with the six of us.)

Side note: I love our three boys dearly, always have. My pity party had nothing to do with them.  All of our children and grandchildren are blessings beyond imagination! 

Have a great Mothers Day! Remember to give all the special mothers in your life a huge hug!! Virtual or physical!