This Is THE Year!

Have you ever procrastinated so long before getting to a task, that it was far easier to forget about it entirely than even beginning?
I mean... other than wall papering the guest room or re-painting the bathroom, or cleaning out the garage!

Well, I hate to confess that my desire to write a book about my relationship with my mother has been pushed aside, covered over and buried by busyness for nearly THREE years!

I've run out of excuses, and with a looming surgery, out of avenues of distraction. 

No more stalling, no more deflecting...this is THE year to write IT!

Please pray for me.

An Heirloom Corsage

Answering my call on the Friday before Mother's Day, the florist informed me that they had no "product" in the store to make a corsage with.  Oh, the joys of living in a small coastal town!
Apparently, after all the orders for the high school prom the previous weekend, she had not ordered enough flowers to make even one more simple wrist corsage.

But my disappointment soon turned delight when I remembered I had saved the wrist band of my mother's last corsage!  Taking a rose bud from the bargain bouquet that my husband gave me, and using double stick tape, I fashioned a one-day corsage that had more meaning than anything we could have purchased!

Just nine weeks before Mom stepped out of her earth suit and into Heaven, I had hosted her 75th Birthday Gala.  She wore this wrist corsage"bracelet" with joy.  Now I have a new tradition...wearing her wrist corsage on a day that honors mothers.  A precious way to bring her memory into sharper focus!  What a blessing!

Essential!

Mothering is essential!
If we don't get it from our biological mother, we certainly need is from someone else.
Who mothered you?

                                                                       (circa 1986)

Today I'm...
Celebrating all those precious people who took care of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
Feeling the loss of my own mother and in tune with others whose moms have passed on.
Missing my kids and trying to down play their geographical distance.
Grateful to my husband for always esteeming my efforts at mothering.
Praising GOD for His goodness in my life!

(from a book of Haiku poetry I wrote back then)

~ HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ~

Maternal Instincts

Don't you just want to scoop up this little chick?
Don't you want to make sure he has adequate food and water?
Don't you want to cuddle him?

I DO!

In full disclosure, I've raised several pairs of ducklings with the help of my kids.
My daughter was especially "maternal" with them, and we so enjoyed watching them grow.
Everyone needs a mother I think.
It seems to be the way GOD designed us.
We are created for nurture.
We receive it and extend it.
Motherhood is such a precious GIFT.

Blessings to you and yours this spring...((HUGS))

A Mother's Care...

is essential!

I was fascinated at the Zoo last weekend as I observed this mother monkey caring for her young.  She kept him close and hand fed him some fruit, taking occasional tastes herself.  So like a human mother, this primate tenderly cradled and nursed her offspring. Then, when she ambled to the other side of the enclosure, he hung on to her tightly, preserving the maternal bond.

Once again, I was reminded of how important a mother's care is. 

Of course, in our contemporary culture with adult children relocating thousands of miles away, a constant challenge for me is to "let go" of those I've loved so much.  Not being able to see them regularly is a bitter consequence of modern life.  But my love will never fade.  I will always be available if they need me.

Tethered to His Grace

I was on the phone with my oldest grandson yesterday.  Amos is almost six years old and homeschooled.  He says the most delightful and intriguing things!  You know, out of the mouths of babes.

There is usually some commotion going on at his house, with 3 little boys under the age of six, rough and tumble is the ever present "background" noise.  After a few moments asking about his day, I requested he take the phone to his Mom, so I could speak with my daughter.  With a slightly flustered sigh, Amos took stock of his limitations and declared:

"But we're plugged into the wall here!" 

It was hilarious to hear this little one, raised on cordless phones and cell phones, exclaim such a frustrating situation.  He was telling me he couldn't get his mom on the phone because he was tethered to one spot by the battery charger.  How precious!  How convicting!

Am I unable to please my Heavenly Father because I am tethered to my selfishness?
Does resentment or grief tether me when I could be set free?
Today I'm going to get "charged" up by GOD's Word first thing, so that I can freely move in Grace!
How about you?

My Precious Gals!

My Future and my Past!
Daughter and Mother, such beautiful ladies.
Thank You LORD for blessing me with their love.

May I rise from the wounding of my past
to lead the way of forgiveness
for my future...
only by Your Grace.