Thank you is not enough

I never really understood  the significance of Mother’s Day…until I became a mother. Because I know what a tiring and sometimes thankless job being a mother actually is, I wanted to take a few minutes to thank some important women in my life.

Momma-

Thank you is not sufficient for all that you have done for me. Thank you for taking care of me when I was unable to do so for myself, thanks for sitting with me in the waiting room at Baptist hospital year after year after year- even though I’m far old enough to do it by myself. You understand that I need you, and so you go with me. I love you for that. Thanks for working so hard while I was growing up so that we could afford dance lessons, braces, cheerleading uniforms, band instruments, basketball shoes, prom dresses, and tuition to a private college. Thanks for always asking questions and for helping me to look at things in a different light when necessary. Thanks for taking care of all of the millions of tasks that need to be done in life and for still answering the questions that I call to ask you now that I should already know the answer for. Thank you for your prayers over the many years and for the times that you reassured me that I “was born to fly” like the country song said. I am so incredibly grateful to have you as a mother. Thanks for all that you do for my kids and for the fun they have when with you.

Dorothy-

Thank you for raising a son that is my whole world. Thanks for the man that you helped him to become and for the values that you instill into him. Thanks for encouraging him to learn all that he could and to care about others. I cannot imagine life without him and am so very grateful for all that you helped him to become. Thank you for the grandmother that you are to K and Mack and for all that you do for them.

There are some amzing other women in my life that have served as a ‘mother’ type figure to me. I am blessed with some of the very best aunts anywhere and am so grateful to have had their support, guidance, love and prayers over the years. What amazing women I get to learn from and be loved by!

My grandmaw that is already in Heaven was the best friend to me and is missed daily. Grandmaw- thanks for always thinking the best of me, for arm scratches and potato soup; for stories at bedtime and ‘parties’ on Saturday nights while we watched HeeHaw. I cannot wait to see you again. I think of you every day and try to keep your memories alive with stories about you to my kids. I know that they would have loved you as much as we all did. Thanks for shaping our family and keeping us all so closely tied together!

My Granny is an amazing woman that inspires me to a greater faith and a greater desire to do hard things. She is a two time cancer survivor, still works at least three days a week, ministers to people every weekend, cooks three meals from scratch a day, keeps a big garden each summer, and keeps our family in order. She is an amazing woman of God and has led us well. Granny- thanks for your determination and for your quiet strength. One day I hope to be like you!

My sister is one of the best mommas I know and I have learned a lot from watching her with her girls. At times she has also been Momma to me and for that, I am grateful. Thanks, Kaley for letting me come and cry in your dorm room when I was homesick, for standing up for me when needed in school and for motivating me to do better!

Ms. Dena- Thank you for taking such excellent care of my kids while I am at work. I have no single doubt that they are better people because of the time that they get to spend with you. Thank you for going above and beyond the regular tasks of ‘babysitting’ and instead choosing to love my children. Thanks for speaking words of truth and life to them and for helping them learn the importance of obeying. I am so grateful for you and how God has woven our lives together. My kids see Jesus in you and there is nothing that is more important that you could do for them.

There are countless other women that have invested their lives in mine. I am so grateful for their influence and their presence in my life. I know that my life may never amount to great things, but I hope that whatever I do, it speaks as a testament to the love and life that each of these amazing women have poured into me.

I love you all!