Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers today. I hope you have a beautiful and blessed day wih your special loved ones. Last year I posted about my sweet babies that hurled me headlong into the toughest but most fulfilling job I have ever had. This year I wanted to thank all the special moms in my life.

Dear Mama,
I could write pages and pages to you. You have no idea how much I admire, respect, esteem, and love you. You have taught me so much from your life. I know I tease you relentlessly about all the shortcuts we took when we were all young and you were working, but you never took shortcuts where it mattered. You were a lot more concerned about being my mother than being my friend. It mattered more to you that I learned the lesson not that I was mad at you. You never took shortcuts when it came to teaching me about working hard for my family, for myself, for being generous to others and for loving the Lord. You taught me to never take shortcuts when it came to fighting with everything you had to hold on to your family and trusting that God in His time would restore all things. You have taught me not to take shortcuts in my work as being accurate and consistent are what you have built your reputation on. You have shown me what a life spent sowing and trusting the Lord can reap in a life. You have shown me what fun it is to be a grandmother. You are the most beautiful and wise person I know and next to Jesus and Jon you are my dearest friend on earth. Thank you for loving my husband the way you do. Thank you for being such a wonderful Mimi. Thank you for being my mama. I love you so much and hope your day is wonderful.

Dear Lila,

Thank you for not running away when you met me and my obnoxious self. I know you wondered many times what you had gotten yourself into! Especially when you had to fix my hair! Thank you for loving my Daddy. Thank you for giving me a precious little brother and for modeling the greatest strength I have ever witnessed in my lifetime when he went to be with Jesus. Thank you for showing me in the flesh what it is to love someone unconditionally that you did not give birth to. It is possible. I know as I have received it and given it. Thank you for showing me one of the sweetest, humblest spirits of any person I know. You are a treasure and I thank God for the gift of our friendship. I love you so much and hope your day is wonderful.

Dear Judy,
Thank you for giving me such a wonderful man that I call husband. You are so precious to me and I am thankful that you love all your daughters-in-law so much. You make us each feel special. Thank you for finally allowing me to do more than stir!! Thank you for teaching me what a joy it is to minister to your family through their stomachs! I value your wisdom and life experience more than you know. You are the coolest, hippest, most fun 75 year old I know. I hope that you and I can continue to pretend like we care that Gerald and Jon pit our cooking against each other just to benefit themselves. Thank you for the love and acceptance into such a beautiful family. I love you so much and hope your day is wonderful.

Dear Jodi and Laura,
Thank you for giving me my most special treasures - my grandpeeps! Oh how those boys make my heart leap! Thank you for all the time you allow me to have with them. Thank you for being my daughters and for the joy of watching you both nurture and love your little men. Pray for them. That is your privilege and responsibility as a mother. Enjoy every moment with them as it will fly by all too quickly. Please continue to share all your special mama moments with me and know I pray earnestly for you both. I love you both so much and hope your day is wonderful.

To my sisters, sisters-in-law and close friends,
Thank you for the blessing each of you are to my life and I love you all so much and hope your day is wonderful.

To my precious friends who are missing their sweet mamas today - I am lifting up a special prayer for you today and asking our gracious God to love on you in a way only He can. I love you all so much and hope your day is wonderful.

Love,
Michelle