It is the question that comes with every holiday, “What do you want, mom?” It’s natural for me to ask my children around Christmas and their birthdays about gift wish lists, and I am very grateful that they are generous enough to even ask me. When asked by my sweet 8-year-old who has asked me not to embarrass him what I wanted for Mother’s Day this year, my quick answer was a full night’s sleep. We all laughed because we know that isn’t happening…
Then came my real answer, for Mother’s Day this year and every day this year I want my children to behave and be kind to one another. I want them to grow into who God is calling them to be. My Mother’s Day Prayer is that my children will grow in holiness, happiness, and health and spread God’s love to the world (maybe I have high expectations for 12, 10, 8, 7, and 4 year-olds and an 8-month old?).
I am blessed with an incredible mom. I never knew how much she loved me and never understood her reasons for making the hard decisions until I had my own children. She sacrificed so much and I am eternally grateful to God for her. She used to say (and still does), that we, my brothers and sisters and I, were not really hers but that we were God’s and he loaned us to her to get us back to him. It seems so simple but so profound. That was her prayer and I understand it now in my own motherhood.
So for Mother’s Day this year I will happily accept and certainly cherish the homemade cards and the new additions to my mom mug collection, but as I do, I will pray that I can be a mom that helps my children get back to God in heaven by praying each day that they grow in holiness, happiness, and health.