OH LADIES YOU COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE BEAUTIFUL AT THE MOM SQUAD LUNCHEON YESTERDAY!

I don't know how many times I can say it but once again we had an AMAZING TIME!!! And though I saw many of you that had attended Mom Squad events in the past, we had quite a few lovely NEW people. The babies that I saw throughout the audience were precious too. TO THOSE OF YOU THAT WANTED TO ATTEND BUT COULD NOT MAKE IT, I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU WERE MISSED AND YOU WERE INCLUDED IN OUR PRAYERS AS WE PREPARED FOR THIS EVENT. Love you all so much. Paula, Debbie, hope you ladies are doing well today. Hope to see you soon. My sweet friend Lyda and my god-daughter Becca came with me this time and I was so appreciative. Thanks goes out to them for their love and support and a big thanks goes out to Crossroads Hospice who cared for Mom so I could have a bit of a break the past several days.

BLESSINGS EVERYONE...ENJOY YOUR WEEK...AND WE WILL BE POSTING PICTURES SOON.

Here's a copy of my message.

Motherhood – The Great Adventure, by Darlene Outler

Dictionary.com is one of my favorite sites. It defines Motherhood as:
The state of being a mother, the qualities or spirit of a Mother
And this one is my favorite:
Having or relating to an inherent worthiness, justness
or goodness that is obvious or unarguable.

WE ARE SPECIAL LADIES! (And by the way, if there are any men out there handling the dual role of Mom and Dad, YOU are special too).

Dictionary.com defines an adventure as:
An exciting or very unusual experience, an undertaking
or enterprise…
and further uses terms like:
bold, risky…an action of uncertain outcome.

I’d say that DEFINITELY describes motherhood as well, wouldn’t you?

My adventure has been filled with laughter and awe. I have learned from experience that as a Mom, I must have lightening fast reflexes and keen instincts. My oldest daughter, Shae, is 30 now…a very creative young lady. When she was about 9 she was forever the ballerina - dancing and spinning…One day I heard a terrible noise, boom, boom, boom, almost like she was playing the drums. Unfortunately, Shae had fallen down a flight of stairs and the wind had been knocked out of her. I quickly grabbed her and whacked her on the back. She took a deep breath and the rest is history. We laugh about it now but then it was critical. She asked me the other day, “Mom, how did you know to do that.” I shrugged and said, “Mom’s just know these things.”

I have learned that as a Mom I must have a natural investigative talent. My middle child, also a daughter, Beranda is 23 now. She was the type of child that rarely did anything wrong. One day when she was about 7, I notice her sitting quietly at the bottom of our black rod iron staircase but something seemed odd. I said a few things to her and she was just not herself but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I walked up the first landing then slowly turned around and noticed a couple bottles of White Out (the fluid used to correct typos on paper) hidden in a plant. As I turned slowly the other way, it was clear that she had taken the White Out and painted several of the black banister poles white. I learned that day that as a Mom, I have to be a loving disciplinarians too. “Off to the corner Beranda. Think about what you have done.” hahaha

I’ve learned as a Mom to take deep breaths and not take life too seriously. Moms are very adaptable. My son, Micah is now 17 but I remember how surprised I was at the difference in his actions and reactions as a boy versus my girls. He actually uttered his first sentence at the top of this very same staircase. He was very young, standing in his little pajamas with the enclosed feet and was barely walking when I heard him say “Hey watch this!” and he flipped over onto his stomach and slid with lightening speed down the stairs. What a shock and for many years he entered the livingroom in that fashion. As he grew there were tons of bouncing balls, weird noises and batteries missing from everything imaginable.

Whether we are a Mom or Mom figure, our love, care, words of instruction, acts of kindness and quality time we spend with each child we come in contact with helps to mold another human being. We are to be commended.

Some of us were not raised in the most loving of environments and thoughts of Mother might hurt us. But at the same time, there was someone …someone that showed us what love is all about and we in turn share that love today with a child. What a blessing.

Some of us have children that have now been delivered into the Heavenly Father’s arms. Holidays specifically may be filled with joy and sadness. We just trust that we will see our children again.

Some of us have children that are incarcerated or estranged from us. The Heavenly Father is a healer. He can mend these situations and when circumstances seem unbearable, we can call upon the name of Jesus. He is with us.

Ladies, we bring forth life literally and figuratively…we make a difference in this world…Here’s to our energy, fortitude, and perseverance. No matter how things turn out, we can find peace in knowing we try…we care; and once a child knows that we try and we care, they in turn care about us and try their best to be receptive to the seeds we plant. May we forever bask in the glory of the Great Adventure of Motherhood.