You are more than just a mother.
When I say "just" a mother, I don't mean to negate the value of one. The work of mamas is soul-inspired, soul-giving work--requiring the deepest we have to offer and taking up the best who we are.
And therein, lies the problem.
It's far too easy to blur the lines between who these little people are and who we think we are. When we do so, we negate all the other roles we're called to play:
* child of God
* wife of one
* worker
* teacher
* mentor
* friend
* woman
As Mother's Day approaches, the whole country pauses to praise the value of mothers. This is well and good, yet our value and identity must not come from this passing-away role alone. Otherwise who will we be in a couple of decades when these littles are grown and gone?
I recently read about the mother of St. Augustine, a godly woman who raised and loved her son faithfully. Yet for years he rebeled and lived a disgraceful life. Looking through the results-focused lens of our culture, all the effort she had invested should have been judged a failure, until years later when he became a founding member of the Church.
You see, if we entangle the core of who we are with the behavior of our children, there will always be some way we're failing. By this definition any issue, any challenge that arises would negate the value of our work and therefore, our very identity.
But it doesn't. Because God has only called us to be faithful to this season in our lives, and to hand the results over to Him.
You are a mother, yes. A beautiful one at that.
But you are so much more, too. An individual valued just for who you are. Don't forget it.
"God has not called us to be successful. He has called us to be faithful."
~ Mother Teresa
