(Today’s post is dedicated to my two amazing mothers – my own precious mama and my wonderful mother-in-law – who have had  and always will have enormous impact on my life. May my life reflect a little of the bright light you have shone on me…)

We are all here today because we had a mother.  Much of who we are today is because we had a mother.

Today’s post is a tribute to our mothers, to all of you readers who are mothers, to the children who made us mothers.

Today’s post is written knowing that many of you have lost your mothers and that some of you are at odds with your mothers.

Today’s post reaches out to those of you whose mothers were not the mothers they should have been and to those of you who were abandoned by your mothers.

Your mother’s life was ordained by God.  And of all the many purposes that He had for her, giving you life was one of them.  She may have fulfilled all of the plans God had for her, she may not have.  But she got one thing right.  She had you.

Some of us had wonderful mothers who loved us with everything in them, who sacrificed to give to us, who set an example and a heritage that we want to pass down to our own children.  They inspired us to follow in their powerful footsteps and emulate their great love.

Others of us had mothers who weren’t there for us either physically or emotionally.  Some were abusive.  Some completely abandoned us.  But what didn’t kill us made us stronger and we chose to do things differently.  We vowed to begin a brand new legacy with our families.  We clung to love and hope instead of bitterness and a better life for others than we had.

There are those of us who had special mothers that we loved deeply who no longer grace this earth.  They gave everything they could until they had nothing left to give.  They were taken from us in death and left a gaping hole in their absence.  Today is a hard day that seems to magnify what is missing.  But we have memories.  Sweet and precious memories, for some few, for others many, that no one can take away.  And we carry within ourselves parts of her that come through in our laugh, our smile and our love for others.

And then there are those of us who were chosen through adoption or have made the decision to adopt.  A mother’s heart at its finest.  Reaching out in love to a stranger and taking in a child who becomes a part of your very own soul.  Love that goes beyond a biological connection by jumping straight to the heart.  Heros at the very least.

No matter what our story is, it started with a mother.  And every breath we take every moment of every day is thanks to her for giving us life.

Thanks, my sweet moms.  There are no words to tell you how much I really do love you.  But I hope my life shows you…

John 16:21: “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.”