Mother's Day

Isaac and "Josie-Wosie" He is really big on rhyming everything right now.
Josh and I have decided that she can't help that little scowl. She is after all related to me.

My kids.

Perhaps a little out of blog character for me, this post will be more serious. It's not that I'm not a serious person, but when Who-knows-Who is reading this, I'm less inclined to make myself vulnerable with "seriousness", but I can't seem to help myself right now.

I have 3 kids.

3.

It feels strange still to say that. When referencing my little family before, I would always say "my boys". I have a daughter. So, now instead, I say my kids. 3 of them.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, and Josh has asked me a couple of times this week what I'd like. I've told him each time that I don't want anything. In the past, I may have said such a thing as a ploy to test his love and see if he still gets me something. I'm past silly games like that. I know he loves me. No test needed. I don't want anything, and here is why.

My kids are on loan. They are not solely mine. I was allowed to participate in the creation of their little bodies and have been entrusted with the sacred responsibility of reminding them of the things that they already know. We think that we are shaping them into who they will become, and although this can be true to a certain degree, it is critical for me to remember they are already somebody. It is my belief that if I mother them the way Heavenly Father would have me do, then I'm not really directing who they will become, but rather helping them remember what they already know, and quite frankly, am teaching them ways to subdue the natural man so that their incredible spirits can shine through.

With this in mind, I don't want anything for Mother's Day. My kids are beautiful. They are sent to me from a Father in Heaven who loves them more perfectly than I can begin to know how, and I get to spend my life getting to know them. No gift necessary. They are the gift. Trust me when I say that I am completely undeserving of such gifts. I've done nothing to earn this privilege, and quite frankly, have done plenty to show that maybe I shouldn't be entrusted with them, but a merciful and omniloving Father has given them to me, and I couldn't be more grateful. If that weren't enough, He has also given me the opportunity to have them for eternity. What a gift to dedicate my life to their journeys, and I couldn't be happier or more pleased than to have Josh by my side committed to doing the same.

Best Mother's Day ever.