After the Miracle

Today's Devotional Thought
February 23, 2012 by Wendy Foreman

Being a Mom

This past weekend was a very special weekend for me. Saturday I spent the day with my 16 year old (soon to be 17 year old) daughter. My husband and my son were going away for the day to do some father/son bonding so we did the same.

First we stayed in our pajamas until 3pm. It was fantastic I must say. We picked 2 girlie movies to watch that we would never be able to watch if the men of the house were around. We made ourselves comfortable with warm blankets and pillows, junk food, and tissues. We laughed, we cried, we talked and talked about anything and everything. When the movies were over and the junk food was eaten we got cleaned up and went in town to do a little girl shopping. Got some great deals at Belk and headed back home for Chinese food for dinner.

May sound like an ordinary day to you, but you see my little girl (I still call her that) will be a senior in the fall and then off to college. I am very aware of how those movie days as mom and daughter are going to be limited. She will move out in 18 months and go off to begin her life and search for where God wants her and who he wants her with on this journey. So, I have moments of such tremendous sadness that she will soon be moving on to her next phase of life, but I also revel in the precious moments I get to spend with her and am super excited to see what God has in store for her life. I have been praying for her since before she was born.

It is crazy how times flies. It seems like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital and sat her down on the living room floor in her carrier and wondered what to do with her. We have watched her grow into a beautiful young woman from that curly red headed toddler, who loved cheeseburgers from McDonald's, sweet tea and potato chips. From that little girl who loved picnics with mom-maw and riding the lawn mower with pappy to a young woman who makes me laugh till my side hurts with her sense of humor and awes me with how grounded she is in life. She is so full of life and it shows in her photography, in the kinds of music she loves to listen to, in the way she is with her friends to how she interacts with her brother (okay this is not always good!!).

Being a mom is the greatest joy of my life. Yes it can be crazy and sometimes I am pretty sure I am going to die before I see either of them graduate from college and get married all because of the stress of it. But oh what they add to my life and the joy they bring to it, there quite simply is nothing that compares.

I smile today thinking about how much I love my daughter and how thankful I am that God gave her to me. She truly is a precious gift.

If you are a mom of a teenager who will soon graduate and move on to college then I am sure you know my heart today. It is one full of pride for her accomplishments, her decisions in life, and her genuine love for her God, her family and her friends.

To lighten the mood a bit I have included a funny you tube video for you to watch today. I saw Anita Renfro perform this live several years ago when my son was a toddler and before my daughter was a teenager. I laughed so hard because as moms we can totally understand what she is singing about because we live it every day!! Enjoy this video but most importantly enjoy the gift your children are to you.