Motherhood By Mandy Bowen

Motherhood, one word that can only be truly defined by experience. An experience that truly puts to the test our patience, our love, and our sanity at times. The moment of excitement you receive the day you realize you will soon be stepping into the roles of motherhood are magical. I will never forget the moment I found out I was pregnant with Roman, my first child. I was overwhelmed with tears of joy as I knew I would begin on a journey that would change my life forever. It’s amazing to see how a sense of motherhood was God given to us from the day we were born. As little girls we would play with our little dolls as if they were breathing. We would feed them when they were hungry or rock them to sleep in our arms. Although now we cannot lay the doll to the side when we are tired. We can’t place the doll in our purse when we are at the dinner table. As we grow older we can’t lay the baby doll aside and we pursue different things. We have a calling as mothers to be there for our children at a moment’s notice. We are there to love, cherish, embrace, chastise, uplift, weep, rejoice, and pray through every moment of their life.

As you can tell I didn’t call motherhood a job. I have been so guilty of this myself, but motherhood isn’t a job. We do not get paid or get vacation time. A job is a choice that we make. Experts say when the hours are totaled up of the time we spend on a job, it’s only 14 years of our life. Whereas motherhood accounts from the moment that God placed that precious gift in our womb until the day we take our last breath. Motherhood is a calling from God placed on our lives. It is a precious gift that God has so graciously given and entrusted with us to care for. A calling that will cause many tears, painful exhaustion, exhilarating joy, and moments we will never forget the rest of our lives.

So, here I am now in a place of my life where I am trying to balance my life, career, ministry, marriage, and our children. I have felt moments of despair and feelings of not having the ability to be that perfect mother. Especially now that God has given us another beautiful son, Henry. As a mom you have moments where you feel unprepared, unworthy, and unable to be that mother we think we should be. Although we must remember that if God gave us the gift of motherhood, we have the ability to see it through. Philippians says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

Will we be perfect mothers? No, we will make mistakes. However, we must embrace those moments and continue to go forward loving every moment we have. These moments will not always last, but they will always dwell in our heart. Mother I want you to know that through the sleepless nights, tiring days, and feelings of despair that you are able to do this. You are more than able to fulfill this amazing calling that God has given you. You are abeautiful, strong, amazing, caring and loving mother. Proverbs says, “Strength and dignity are in her clothing”. You are strong enough to do this this. You are worthy enough to have this precious gift in your life! Mother I hope that today you will let the joy of the Lord be your strength and embrace the beautiful journey we call motherhood.