Happy Mother’s Day for the woman that is not the mother…

Today may be a day that is your least favorite day of the year.  Mother’s Day.

Maybe you even feel a little guilty for not liking the day because you had an amazing mom.

Perhaps you have siblings, friends, or cousins that are AMAZING moms but you are not a mom.

Perhaps you are not a mom because a baby was just never given to you.

And you feel.

Well, you may not know how to feel but you know that you feel.  Deeply.

Perhaps you are not a mom by choice.

Yet your eyes wander the world on this day and see other women celebrated.  And this makes you feel.

You don’t know how it makes you feel.  But it does.

Perhaps you were a mom and then your babies or children were taken from you.  Too soon.  And now you, the mom, are a mom forever and always but you don’t have your baby to say on this day, “YOU ARE MY MOM!”

And this makes you feel.

On this day, ladies, all I can say is that every beautiful trait of YOU is wrapped into a beautiful box and displayed with the grandeur of the perfect woman.

You are that woman.

That beautiful treasure that is perfect just the way she is.

Strong.

Resilient.

A fighter.

A lover.

A giver.

A friend.

A woman.

A woman who makes our world a more beautiful place.

You make this world a place where I can travel with my daughters and say, “Look!  You are perfect for who you are!”

You, dear woman, are the reason that my daughter will walk tall and strong and proud.  Because who knows what her one day will hold.

Maybe it will hold children.  Maybe it will not.  Maybe it will hold a husband.  Maybe it will not.  Maybe it will hold loss.  Maybe it will not.

But when she looks about this world, she needs to see YOU.

She needs to see that one day — SHE IS ENOUGH as the woman that she is.  Because she is fearfully and wonderfully made!

So, today, on Mother’s Day, Ladies, I would like to say “Thank you” to you.  Because of you, I can point to my daughters and say “Look at this woman and see what she has done!  The world is stronger and more creative, beautiful, and kind because of her.  Be like her!”

And my daughters will go to bed remembering all that you are…

The woman that makes our world a better place.

 

Moving to the land of hot babes and skinny chicks.

Image of Paulina Krupinska

My husband was on the phone with his at that time single brother saying, “DUDE!  You have got to come to Poland.  The women are SO hot!”

And he was like a broken record…or a parrot…saying it over, and over, and over.

I was finally like, “Dude, Richard! I am right here!”  Standing there in my ponytail and overalls.

But he was and is right—Poland is full of hot babes and skinny chicks!

The women are gorgeous.  They are gorgeous on the outside—and they are brilliant and multi-talented on the inside.  The women are a powerful group of individuals in the country of Poland.

The country that I am about to return to…

So.  How will I hold up in a land of great beauty and strong women?

Well, in the beauty department what you see is what you get—I have ditched the overalls for sweats and tanks.

In the strong department—I can learn from them and hopefully inspire a few along the way.

In the skinny department—I’ll tell them how much I admire their physique while drinking my Pepsi and eating my donut.

Don’t worry, though, I do take my dogs on walks.

 

Stillness is Strength

I learned one thing nearly 2 years ago when my life was Go-Go-Go! I learned the art of “Still”.

In today’s world, we may feel the pressure of Go! Do! Conquer! Complete! But there will come times in your life, in my life, where we are asked to do one thing: Be still and know that He is God.

When you or I, our spouses, or our children are sick, we tend to “placate” the illness with medicine that gives temporary relief.  Within 20 minutes we are feeling pretty good again. Our kids, they’re running circles around the home. Our spouse is back to work. But that relief wears away and misery is back to keep us company. And we know, in our heart of hearts, that rest will truly be the only thing to help us regain real strength, not simply give us the facade of “strong”.

As much as we might want to fight the urge to be still, it is what is sometimes asked. It is what is sometimes needed.

And sometimes we are overlooking one of the most important things of all…in our stillness He is strong. God.

Trying to go, do, and conquer can take away from the work The Lord God himself wants to do for you. Psalm 46:10 (NIV) says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

In our stillness, God is glorified.

And where God is glorified, there is always great strength.

So, my friends, if you are at that crossroad in your life between stillness and strength, you should choose stillness.  Let Him show strength!