Mother's Day

I have 3 moms.  Each one very unique and special to my heart.

First, there's the young hippie twenty something that gave birth to me.  She sang to me when I was colicky. She fed me home made bread and "mama yogurt" and cookies with carob chips; she ensured that I had the very best nutritious foods.  She taught me to stand in front of a mirror and critique my body! (She taught me a lot about being critical ;) !!!) She always told me I was beautiful.  She encouraged me to sing.  She suffered through my teenage angst, when I screamed at her, "YOU ARE THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD!" And, she forgave me when I asked her, many years later.  I have watched her be transformed into "Mema," and can not put into words what it feels like to see her love on my daughters.  Sometimes, it seems as though there's a window into the past, and she's in her twenties again, loving me.  She is the one who's voice I hear in my own, who's words I hear in my mind, who's honor I remember in my heart.

Second, there was a stranger who loved my father the right way.  And he loved her the right way.  And they loved me with stability, discipline, freedom and boundaries.  She fed me square meals with meat and potatoes and veggies and rolls! She totally won my teenage heart first by loving my Pa, second by feeding me, and third by meaning what she said.  I was a difficult teen - demanding my own way and taking stupid risks, piercing random body parts and bringing home a new boyfriend way too often - and she was patient with me.  Can you imagine coming into the role of motherhood for not just me, but two other teens too, when their mom is your husband's ex, and loving them? I can't.  She did.  I still cry when I think about how hard that must have been for her.  But that's my Debby.  She's amazing like that.  Now, when I watch her loving my girls with the same abandon she loves her other granddaughters it blows me away even more.  Debby is a woman who's love runs deep.

Third, there is my husband's mother.  The woman who raised the man that I love - who moulded a God-fearing man out of a baby boy, who trained him up when he was young so that now he stays on the righteous path.  This mom, Fran, has taught me how to pray Scriptures over my children and stand in my spiritual authority over them as their mother.  She is loyal and patient, gracious and generous.  She also let go of her baby boy - her eldest son - when we married, and allowed me to become the most important woman in his life.  (That thought kind of makes me glad I only have daughters...)  

Three lovely ladies, all with this in common: they are grandmother to my daughters, and when I see the ways they love my children, my heart overflows.  Thank you Mom, Debby & Fran for teaching me about being a great mom.