Riley and Brady in September 2006.
I first saw two lines on March 28, 2002. My daughter was born in December 2002 and my son was born two years later in January 2005. Since the day I knew there was a new life – a unique individual created in the image of God – in my womb, my children have been used to teach me much about love and hate, work and play, fear and faith, life and death, hope and loss, gift and sacrifice, rest and weariness and wholeness and brokenness.
My time and energy dedicated to mothering is comprised of attempting to care for and nourish their bodies, minds, emotions and spiritual life. Sometimes I fail. And sometimes it all works out. I teach, correct, question, answer, inspire, ignore, encourage, squelch and shame them. We have meaningful conversations, sing, dance, act silly, argue, yell and forgive.
But.
Women don’t have to be moms to learn what I’ve learned, care for and nourish others or have meaningful, life-giving relationships. And women certainly don’t have to be moms to know what it means to fail or to prosper.
Most (if not all) people agree that the bonds in one’s immediate family – with our parents and with our children – are special. Those bonds may be severed or tangled, but they’re still there. I’m not discounting that truth. Today I celebrate my mother, my role as a mother and the beautiful examples of mothering I’m blessed to observe. It’s also a day for me to celebrate the women who aren’t mothers, but who give themselves to their friends, families, churches, neighborhoods, colleagues and communities in the same ways moms give themselves to their children.