In Mama's honor...

I never understood......until it was my turn.

My turn to lumber...then labor...then linger over the breathtaking holiness of a new human being...

My turn to try to figure out what to serve before famished tummies for the 8, 037th time....with a smile, creativity, and a sense of humor.

My turn to rub a bumped head, answer the phone, grab the pot of boiling-over potatoes, and run with the "have-to-go-now" toddler to the bathroom...all simultaneously and effortlessly, of course...cause that's simply what this job requires.

My turn to figure out how to seamlessly pull off a birthday production to rival an unforgettable broadway musical....so somebody knows how loved they really are.

My turn to shape little people, mold malleable hearts, train up future men and women.....my turn to feel the responsibility...and profound privilege....of being a people-maker.

I didn't get it. And you didn't try to make me understand.

But now I do.

I understand the heart howls before our Lord, humbly asking for grace and mercy in a mama's oh-so-many-hours of need.

I understand weariness.....despair......joy......love.......LIFE......in ways your words could never have explained, but walking in your shoes has made so obvious.

I understand you....now. At least much more of who you are.

My Mama.

Happy Mother's Day......Seems so trite for a life poured out, a love so bestowed, a legacy inherited.

I simply rise up and declare you blessed.

Lord, so many Mamas have laid down and poured out behind me.....faces I have never seen, names I have never known......but You know. All the names of all the faithful life-givers...Your co-labourers. Humble workers of domestic holiness......May we make you smile......and thank-you for Your grace for this calling.