Playing at the beach in Naples!

Motherhood – it is a simple and a beautiful life in Him!

I have such vivid memories of my babes coming into this world, the intense and overwhelming emotions of feeling them kick within my womb, feeling them emerg for the first time, nursing them, kissing their sweet little faces, sticky hands, smelly feet, the first “I love you mommie”, falling asleep in my arms, crying on my shoulder, birthday parties, skinned knees, bike rides, swimming pools, sandy beaches, their first steps, belly laughs and funny words…temper tantums, asking for forgiveness, sweet prayers, reading books together, holding my hand, soccar games, pulling my hair, dirty diapers, bubbles in the bath, first day of homeschool, road trip in the van, boat rides, bug nets, sandboxes playing catch. Dressing up like princesses, playing dolls, braiding hair, dressing up for weddings, opening presents, shabbat dinners, running through the sprinkler and potty training. These memories evoke emotion in my heart that I cannot supress, words cannot explain the joy I feel as I recall these events and I remember them so well in each of my children.

Thank you God for sweet moments and beautiful memories!

My little Atirah only 6 hours old.

Today is the day after Mother’s Day and I am finally able to sit down and reflect on being a mom. I think that becoming a mother has been the most drastic change in my entire lifetime. Although Jim and I had planned to start having children I was not completely prepared for what was about to happen. Now as I look back I think, how can anyone be prepared or trained to be 100% selfless without having the oppotunity to try it. I have endured many challenging life situations; but nothing has been more physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually challenging than motherhood.

Mercy wearing her favority dress (at the time, it has now changed to a different dress:)

I am constantly faced with choices each day; choices concerning urgency, constant physical demand, timing issues, unexpected sickness, homeschooing classesand questions, case sensitive issues, sibling rivalry and more. No one prepared me for this, no one told me it would be this difficult, all the while making these choices under high volume stress, crying and running on little to no sleep. It seems like insanity!! I didn’t think anyone prepared me for this…but actually I believe I have been preparing for this my entire life and just didn’t know it!

Out for an afternoon walk

Every season of life is full of choices. We can all decided to choose what is best for us or we can put others first. I have, on many occassions put myself first and that is why I believe motherhood was so hard for me. I went from living for myself and my agenda to living for my children and meeting their needs. I have learned that the only way to be the best mom that I can is stay connected to the One who ultimately gave life to my kids. When I connect with the Father and pray for wisdom, strength, insight, grace, mercy and love for my kids it changes everything!

Family photoshoot when Atirah was 4 weeks old.

I definitely could not be the mom that I am without Him. There are days when I try to do it on my own and the end of my day usually ends by me asking my kids for forgiveness for being impatient amd selfish. I am thankful that His MERCY is new EVERY morning and that he loves my kids even more than I do. Before I used to look at motherhood as a chore and something that was going to be hard no matter what, now I look at it as a blessing, something that I need to cherish because all too soon it will be over and my little birds will leave my nest. I know that I will one day stand before the Lord and give account for what I did during these years. I want to boast that in Him I was able to love and raise up a generation who serves Him! That my children are being trained to honor, trust in and love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. I pray that they will be arrows that hit their mark!

Playing hockey on our ice rink

Motherhood is a challenge but what a gift it is. Remember to hold your little ones close today and tell them how much you love them! See them as a picture of the Father and you, He loves you too, He is pleased with you and He longs to reveal Himself to you. They are soil that we need to sow many seeds into. They are worth our all and every amount that we can invest.

My little Mercy loved playing in the toilet! It’s more funny now than it was then:)

May you feel His embrace today, may you remember that every day to Him is Mother’s Day, He wants you to rest in Him and allow Him the job and teaching you how to love and nuture your children. Let us redefine motherhood in this generation. We are training up our little ones to serve the King, we are preparing them to live their lives to the fullest and to embrace everything that the Father has for them!! Happy Mother’s Day!