Sunday, May 9, 2010

Supermom?

There are many titles my mom has been given by people when I tell them how many kids we have in my family (14) or how we were/are all homeschooled or how the last four are adopted special needs girls. "Wow, she must be superwoman or something!" one of my friends exclaims. "Holy cow, she's like a saint!" another declares. "She must be crazy!" mutters one while shaking their head.

Superwoman, saint, or madwoman? "What would you call your mom?" you might be asking. It's simple. I call her mom. Well, mommy when I was little and mother if I'm trying to get her attention. Growing up, I never considered what my mom did to be out of the ordinary or somehow supernatural. She never exhibited any superpowers (at least to my knowledge) and she did lose her cool at times (sorry mom, I don't think canonization is in your future). She occasionally toyed with the realm of quackery and wackiness, but not to the point that I would call her completely insane (just kidding!). When you are surrounded by the craziness and fun that is the life of a large family for your entire childhood, I have learned in my years away from home that your standards of normalcy become slightly skewed. Thus, I never looked at my mom from the perspective that others outside our family see her. But since I've been away and have shared stories of my family and our life, I've come to see things in a whole new light.

"Your mom is amazing! I would love to meet her! She inspires me...like to have a big family and stuff. I don't know if I could do it, but it would be so cool to have a bunch of kids that would grow up to tell stories about me like you do. You are so lucky!" These are just snippets from some of the conversations that I've had over the past two years with various people about my mom and my family. And as I listened to people talk about how just hearing about my mom inspires and excites them, I thought "I AM extremely blessed and I AM very fortunate to have the family and the parents that I have. I have LIVED with and been TAUGHT by this woman that all these other people are proclaiming enviousness of me for." You know the song "You don't know what you got till it's gone"? Well, that song is not true for me. I know what I have and it's not gone. Nor will it ever be.

I have a godly heritage in a committed mother who burped me, changed me, rocked me, and bathed me. A mom who fed me, dressed me, taught me, and spanked me. A mom who held me, kissed me, and cried with me. A mom who rebuked me, encouraged me, trained me, and read to me. Most of all, a mom who loved me and raised me in God's word to be the woman I am today. And she continues to send her love and support across the ocean that separates us now. And continues to do all of the things she did for me to all my younger siblings, day after day. Every Mother's Day for as long as I can remember, my dad always reads the 31st chapter of Proverbs aloud to us and tells us that "To me, this is your mom. One day, all of you kids will hopefully rise up and bless her."

Well, Mom, this is me rising up and blessing you for your years of service to me and our family. To me, and I am sure to all the rest of our family, your worth is far above rubies and diamonds. I can't be there to give you a gift so I'll give you something that the Bible says gives parents the greatest joy. The knowledge that I walk in the truth because of your example and sacrifice. I love you so very much and I wish you the best Mother's Day ever.