Things I learned from the Monkeys. .. AKA My Kiddos

Becoming a Mom was a long and hard journey for me.
Seems it was preparing me for Motherhood-which is also a long hard journey.
But the payoff, well the payoff is pretty amazing.

The lessons I learn from my kids and from parenting each of my EXTREMELY different kids is vast and wide.  I have a friend who said to me once , "Of all the ways God could use to teach me, I'm so glad he chose to use my kids to do it." . And I couldn't agree more.
So, I could list numerous things I've learned from being a mother, but instead I thought I would sum up what I've learned from parenting each child with one word.


C my first born, or as we like to call him, our practice child  -without C my FAITH  would have remained lifeless and really only present in conversation not practice.


C brought  up the very real question - Do I believe what God says or not? Do I just believe in God or do I believe God.  Trust me, there is HUGE difference!
Walking through the valley of the shadow with C has been one of the hardest most life changing experiences a person could have. 
And now watching him enter his teenage years, well I can't totally say I'm comfortable with that because you know-HELLO TEENAGER-but I know God is control and my faith rest in the One who created my sweet boy!

I just told him he had a Justin Beiber look going on and yet he still took a picture with me . .

Next comes J.
Oh sweet baby J, without him I would never have to be brave.
J has taught me a COURAGE I would never know without the privilege of being this guys mom.
J is a stick of dynamite and the person in our family who isn't afraid of much.
Whether is climbing a 20 foot tree in our backyard or jumping from the top of the stairs, to riding his bike faster than I can imagine, this boy is teaching me, life isn't always about staying safe.
My courage has been stretched farther than I could have ever imagined and I'm a better woman, wife, mother, friend for it!
(He's also taught me even tough guys love their Momma's and bedtime stories and snuggles )

DY NO MITE!

Then came the Princess. The surprise of a lifetime. And what a sweet sweet surprise she was.
Without the privilege of being this little girls mom, I don't think I would ever have learned pure and true
DELIGHT   !  Whether it's a dandelion or a puppy or going to the library or having one of her brothers read her a story, the Princess sees the joy, wonder and delight in each and everything.  She's given me fresh eyes as I look at the world around me.
If everyone could share her sense of sheer joy, delight and wonder, their perspective would change too.
With the privilege of being the Princess's mom has come the warming up and chipping away at the hardness of my heart, that I hadn't even realize had happened.

As I reflect on Mother's Day and think of my own amazing mom, I also look at my babies and say "Thank You Lord!
Thank for entrusting  these precious people to me! I realize you didn't give them to me just so I could teach them but so that I could learn from them as well."
What an amazing gift.

Happy Mother's Day!