Tuesday, May 13, 2008

It Takes All Kinds...

My Grandma used to say, "Takes all kinds to make a world." She would usually say this when we had just seen someone who lives on the edge somehow. =) There is a lot of truth in that saying though. We are all different. We are all created different. I was talking to one friend this week about a book she shared with another friend. My friend and I loved the book, but her friend did not. She could not look beyond the differences in the author and mine the nuggets of truth. That is OK. There are other books for her.

I was contemplating Mother's Day. I thought about doing a Mother's Day post, but when I had the time, my heart was not in it. It goes along with my Grandma's saying. Mother's Day can be looked at in MANY different ways. Let's just stick to the female gender.

As a very young child, you know it is a day to honor your Mom. You probably make her something, pick her flowers, make a card or draw her a picture.
Then as a young lady, you probably want to make her dinner, or possibly buy her something. You may even think ahead of the day that you will be a Mom. Maybe you have some tradition at your house for Mother's Day that you want to do when you have your own home.
Let's look at an even older single woman... say in her mid to late 20's. She may wonder if she will ever be a Mom. She is not sure what God has in store for her and she is willing to wait, but Oh, it would be so nice to know.
I got married just after I turned 20. My first Mother's Day was all about my Mom. I got married in April and I knew my turn was coming. Then when Mother's Day numbers 2, 3 & 4 came around it was a painful day. I wanted to get married and have LOTS of babies. God had other plans. I would go to church and they would give all the mothers a flower of some sort. They were recognized in the service. "Will all the Moms please stand up". I would usually be the only married woman still sitting down. I think there was even one year when I did not go to church because it was too painful. I could still honor my Mom and my Mom-In-Love, but I did not like the day.
I have a good friend who had one stillborn son. She never had another. We talked again this year and I told her she was a Mom as much as I am. She does not feel like it because she did not raise a child.
What about the young woman through whatever circumstances makes the choice out of love to give her child up for adoption. She is VERY special in my heart because that is how I got my son. Is she a Mom? How does Mother's Day make her feel?
Then there are the woman that have their first Mother's Day by being pregnant. It is a time of joyful anticipation.
Then comes the first Mother's Day when you are sitting there holding that child. I know for me, it was a day of great rejoicing. We had tried for 5 years. After getting on our knees and giving up our right (which was not really ours) to have children that God blessed us through adoption.
There are the Mom's sitting in the hospital with a micro-preemie, or the Mom's that have a severely disabled child. There are the Mom's like Mrs. Duggar that have a large family.
This Mother's Day, I did miss my own sweet Mom. I wore one of her sweaters all day and thought of it as my hug from her. We were able to visit my sweet Mom-In-Love. This was also my last Mother's Day with Joshua home.
Where are you with Mother's Day?

Here are a few pictures from around the farm.



6 comments:

Frazzled Farm Wife said...

Wow, what a thought provoking post!

I think Mother's Day is a little over-rated. It's the little things in life along the way that really touch your heart, not just one day celebrated once a year.

Sharon said...

Your post was very thought provoking and I appreciated it very much. I have had many different kinds of Mother's Days (some good, some sad)which would take too long here, but this year, I had a quiet, sweet day with my 21 year old daughter (only child)who still lives at home and we visited my mom who will be 78 in July.

Many of the holidays that make some people happy, always make some people sad. Most of them are over-rated.

Anonymous said...

We don't do any traditions for Mother's Day, nice pictures Marci!

The Sisters said...

Marci,
This is a great post!
To answer your question about what we do with our strawberries...We usually just eat them plain.But sometimes we make a fruit dip with marshmallow cream and cream cheese.
Strawberry Jam sounds really yummy!

VoiceInTheWilderness said...

I try to take it all in stride. I used to feel a sense of entitlement when Mother's Day rolled around. There were also times that I spent Mother's Day feeling sorry for myself because my mother was dis-interested in my life (at best). This year, I took a new approach. While motherhood is a beautiful blessing from God, it is not the end all and be all of existence. Being a child of God is...
I spent this Mother's Day being the best Mom I could be. I even got up early enough to make the kids a real breakfast before heading out the door to church. This year, I took care to appreciate the gift of being a mother.

Emily said...

Hi Marci,
Very good post. Mother's Day can be a bit trying for those moms whose children (some of them anyway) are not walking with the Lord, and therefore are not in church with her when the mothers are being honored. Ask me how I know. This year I was not thinking about myself at all but about other women whose lives have touched mine - my own mom, my mother-in-law, my special cousin (only other believer in our side of the family), and my pastor's wife who is also my good friend and spiritual mom - and trying to make the day special for them. So I was not focused on me at all. It was a good place to be.

My wonderful husband did build me a raised bed for a vegetable garden that day, and that was special. My daughter made me a cute card at church and gave me a flower. If I hadn't gotten any recognition, though, it wouldn't have mattered to me because it is just a man-made day on the calendar. I would prefer that my children not feel obligated to express their appreciation in a forced way on a certain day, and that it would just happen naturally at any time. I think "frazzled farm wife" expressed that a little more concisely than I. :) God's blessings to you!