When I think about what I’m thankful for, all of the usual suspects come to mind: family, friends, a happy marriage, health, safety, stability, the list goes on. But this year, the word motherhood seems to be the thing that I am most thankful for:
I am thankful for my mother, for the oppourtunity to be a mother, and for what motherhood has taught me.
This year, even more than in years past, I am thankful for my mom. She was a great mother to my sister and I as children but she is an amazing mother to us as adults. Within months of me becoming pregnant with my 1st child, she retired from her full time job and started a new “career” as a self proclaimed traveling Grammy. She is the type of mom (and Grammy) that doesn’t just show up for the fun part. She’s there for the good, the bad, and the ugly. She does it all. She has given so much of her time, love, and support to me, my sister, our husbands, and her now 5 grandchildren. She IS the mom that she wished that she had been blessed with and she is an inspiring example of selflessness and love.
I am also overwhelmingly thankful that I was blessed with the physical ability to become a mother myself. My own mom struggled for years to concieve my sister and I. Her journey to motherhood was long and painful. Knowing this, I had alot of fear that I too would have that struggle.
Not being able to concieve is a worry that I had for as long as I can remember. I had a deep rooted fear that my journey to motherhood would mirror my mom’s.
Amazingly, that was not the case for me. But knowing what my mom (and so many other women) have gone through makes me even MORE thankful for my 3 healthy babies. Motherhood is a blessing that I will never, ever take for granted.
Additionally, I am thankful for what motherhood has taught me. I feel like being a mom has taught me an infinite number of lessons but mostly notably patience, adaptability, and love.
And as the verse goes “And the greatest of these is love.”
How to love from a whole different realm of my heart than I even ever knew existed. How it’s possible to feel fiercly protective of, completely overwhelmed by, and totally in awe of someone so tiny – all at the same time. Being a mother is such a gift and it’s something that I will always be deeply thankful for.
