This morning, Buddy Bear and I were walking out of the grocery store. Buddy Bear was strapped to my back in the backpack carrier, I had a full bag of groceries over my shoulder. We passed a woman wearing a gentle smile.
"I can tell that you love being a mom," she said.
I don't know what I was doing that inspired her comment, but what she said meant so much to me. I swelled with happiness at the recognition. I wanted to throw my hands in the air and cheer.
"Yes, I do, I really do," I replied.
I have received plenty of recognition and accolades in many areas of my life. But I love being a mom more than anything else. Paradoxically, motherhood is the area of my life where I find myself most insecure, most challenged, most uncertain and with the least amount of recognition, praise or affirmation. So when a stranger is able to recognize my maternal joy and contentment in the midst of a routine grocery run, I declared the morning a victory. Now, if only I could keep Buddy Bear from chewing on the power strip.
May is a month for celebrating mothers and motherhood. The church celebrates Jesus' mother, Mary, in a special way during May, and Mother's Day is this coming Sunday. What a great opportunity to take time in the coming weeks to focus on the blessing of motherhood with my children, my family members and friends we meet.
I'm not surprised that she recognized that about you, and how nice of her to take the time to say it. And this sentence in your post: "motherhood is the area of my life where I find myself most insecure, most challenged, most uncertain and with the least amount of recognition, praise or affirmation". So true...when your primary audience is under age 6, and so many of the acts we do are part of laying a foundation for long-term expressions, there's not a lot of feedback. I think as mothers, we all need to do a better job of providing affirmations for each other...the way that woman did by saying what she was thinking in the parking lot!
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised either -- your joy radiates from you & each of your blog posts too! But, I am so thankful the lady took a moment to share those kind words with you! It's a little blessing from God & a dose of encouragement.
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