To the amazing women

If you didn’t know mother’s day is this Sunday.  I love mother’s day because I have the most amazing mom.  Yet I’ve been wrestling with thinking through this post because this day carries so many feelings of all kinds for so many different people.  For some, it is a happy day and for others it is painful.

There are those who are mothers because they gave their baby life.  There are those who are mothers because they stayed and were there.  There are those who are mothers because they raised another child that didn’t come from their own body but whom they love as if that child did.

There are those who aren’t mothers who’s hearts are breaking.  Maybe they are single and desire children.  Maybe they are wives who have wrestled with infertility.

Maybe you didn’t have a good mom.  Maybe you didn’t have a mom at all growing up.  Maybe you had an awesome mother and you are a mother yourself.  I don’t know what your story is or what side you’re on.  But I do know this: the world needs mothers.  It needs them in so many forms.  We need women who give life to others and I don’t just mean physically.  The dictionary definition of nurturing is the, “the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something.”

So to all the women out there who have encouraged the growth of others and who lovingly care for people in so many different ways, thank you.  We need you.  We want to be like you.  We want to bring life wherever we go.  To the mothers, mentors, biological mothers, nurturing friends and women in our lives we celebrate you!

Thank you for being the selfless people who lay down your lives for those around you.  Thank you for being the caring souls that we can find a safe haven in.  Thank you for sharing our joy and our pain.  Thank you for being our cheerleaders and for kicking us in the butt when we need it.  Thank you for giving us a chance.  Thank you for taking a huge risk on us.  Thank you for opening up your heart so we could learn to do the same.

Please make sure you take the time this week to reflect on those who have nurtured your life (especially your mom!) and then thank that woman for how she’s given to you and blessed you and shaped your life.