A post for moms.

This Sunday will mark my fourth year celebrating Mother's Day as a mom. My first was in 2010, when Cooper was still in my belly. The next three with him on the "outside", of course. I love being a mom. I was never one of those little girls who always dreamed of being a wife and a mother. In 2nd grade I wrote a paper about how I wanted to be an Olympic track star when I grew up. I loved to run and I loved to run fast. Being a mom just wasn't on my radar. I wasn't the kind of girl who played with baby dolls either. I never really had any, mostly because I didn't want them. I remember getting a doll for Christmas one year when I was seven or eight but that's the only doll I ever remember having. I was more concerned about hanging out with my older brother and playing whatever sport he was. I was about as 'tomboy' as it gets. And you know those girls who run around the neighborhood with their shirts off WAY longer than they should even though their not "developed" yet? Yeah, that was me.

So fast forward about 20 years... at the age of 28 I become a mom. And it changed me, just like it changes all of us. I fell in love in a way that I had never fallen in love before. This little cone-headed, Asian-looking (because he looked Asian when he was born), wrinkly little boy stole my heart. And he's been stealing it ever since. I love being a mom. I mean LOVE it. But it's a hard job.

Hard in more ways than one. It's hard in the physically exhausting kind of way. Late nights, early mornings, sick days, bodily fluids, messy house, toys everywhere, insufficient amounts of caffeine, spaghetti sauce on the carpet... If you're a mom you can probably add another 100 (or million) things to this list. This is called the daily grind of motherhood. These are the things that wear you down day in and day out. But the glimpses of joy, the smiles, and the hugs and kisses make it all worth it, right?

But there's another kind of hard. The kind of hard that gets you a little messed up on the inside. The kind of hard that makes you question what kind of mother you are. And what kind of mother you want to be. I struggle with this one. Do you?

Am I being intentional enough?

Do I pray for him enough?

Will he see Jesus in me? 

Will he learn to love people because of the way I love people? 

Do I miss the "teachable moments"? 

Even though insecurities creep often, hope is always present. One of the biggest ways God blesses me in motherhood is by surrounding me with other amazing moms I can learn from. And there are so so many.

Caroline, Natasha, Kathy, Beth, Cassi, and so many more.

I watch how they interact with their kids. I watch how they teach and love and correct. I watch how they deal with failure, how they forgive, and how they love Jesus and their husbands in front of their kids. And I ask them questions. Lots and lots of questions.

I'm not sure I could embrace motherhood with so much grace if it weren't for these women.

I believe the saying is true that "It takes a village to raise a child", but I also believe it takes a village to make a great mom.

We need each other. In the high moments and the low moments. They journey is better when it's done with each other.

Happy Mother's Day. Now go hug another mom.