“Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling
of trust and stability.  She is the one they can count on for the things that matter
most of all.  She is their food and their bed and their extra
blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their
warmth and health and their shelter; she is the one
they want to be near when they cry.  She is the only person
in the whole world, or in a whole lifetime, who can be these
things to her children.  There is no substitute for her.
Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children’s
hands from anybody else’s clothes.  Only to touch her skirt
or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better.”
Karen Butler Hathaway

How do I find the words to describe the meaning and purpose of my life and how much it means to me?  God placed the call of motherhood so strongly on my heart that it has been my main goal in life.  The reaction, sadly, of most women when they learn this about me is disbelief and even slight ridicule and teasing.

But it’s true.  Ask the 15 year old me what I wanted to be when I grew up?  I would have said, “I want to be a stay-at-home mom”.

When I think of how much the Lord has given me the desires of my heart, I want to cry!

He led me to my perfect match and life partner– and we were married young–I was 19 and he was 21.  We were married for 1 year and 3 months before we welcomed our firstborn into our hearts.

Jacob was born 2 weeks early.  As a first time mom I was not expecting that wave of love that I felt when Rich finally brought tiny Jacob to my hospital room after his first bath.  “He’s so beautiful” is what I said and thought so many times. 

So beautiful.

Jacob was 14 months old when Ethan arrived.  Once again I fell in love with a baby boy.  Ethan was and is a happy boy, in a calm, thoughtful way.  To see his bright eyes while he laughs is one of the biggest rewards in my life.

I found out I was expecting Grace shortly after Ethan’s first birthday.  I was scared, I admit.  She was born when Jacob was 2 months shy of his 3rd birthday and Ethan was 21 months old.  To have my first daughter was all I needed to carry me through those early days and months with 3 little ones in diapers!

In the few years before our next baby came along, I had so much fun with my 3 preschoolers.  Yes, there were difficult days, (but I won’t get into that).  I remember FUN and lots of it:  trips to McDonald’s play place, little amusement parks, lots of walks to the playground.  The sheer delight and enjoyment of simple things–like blowing bubbles and washing matchbox cars.

Jacob was in Kindergarten when David was born, so my “carefree” (doesn’t that word make you snicker?) days of being a Mom to preschoolers were over.  When I had David I thought I had never been so in love with a baby before!  (Aren’t moms funny?)  David was my 4th child, yet I took MORE pictures of him than any of the others thus far!  He was and still is a unique, bright part of our family.  He makes me smile and chuckle every single day.

Caleb, our fifth baby, was born when David was almost 3.   I felt so happy, peaceful, and content when he was a newborn, more than I did for any of the other babies.  For instance, I knew that it was okay to hold him (and did hold him) as much as possible!  The babies grow too fast. . hold your babies!  Too soon they wriggle themselves away to their own adventures, far too soon!   An added blessing of Caleb’s birth was the joy of seeing my older children enjoy their baby brother.  What a wonderful feeling it is for a mom to observe the love between her children!

Jacob is 10 now.
Ethan is 9.
Grace is 7.
David is 4.
Caleb is almost 2.

As for me, my life is so fulfilled.  My dreams are all coming true.  God gave me my family and I give all the glory and honor to Him.  I lay my family down at His feet. 

The tears in my eyes are there from sheer happiness.

Enjoy the photos, which were taken by my husband (whose technique is to start clicking and not stop):

To be a Mom
you need to be very very
very very very very
patient
and
keep smiling

“God wants us to fill our homes with happiness.  He made childhood joyous, full of life, bubbling over with laughter, playful, bright and sunny.”

“It is a crime to repress the mirth and the gladness and to try to make children grave and stately.  Life’s burdens will come soon enough to lie upon their shoulders.”

“Life will soon enough bring care and anxiety and hardship and a weight of responsibility.  We should let them be young and free from care just as long as possible.”

“We should put into their childhood days just as much sunshine and gladness, just as much cheerful pleasure as possible.  Human lives will never grow into their best in gloom.”

“Pour the sunshine about them in youth; let them be happy; encourage all innocent joy; provide pleasant games for them; romp and play with them; be a child again among them.”

“Then God’s blessing will come upon your home, and your children will grow up sunny-hearted, gentle, affectionate, joyous themselves and joy-bearers to the world.”

“The young must have amusements.  The only question is, What shall be the character of the amusements?”

“If there is clover at the home they will not care to fly abroad.” 

“There is no parent of ordinary intelligence who may not make his home-live so bright and sunny that no one will ever care to go outside to see amusement amid the senseless frivolities or the debasing pleasures that the world has to offer.”

“There is no need for argument to prove the influence of the home memories in the formation of character.  When one’s childhood home has been true and sweet, its memories never can be effaced.”

“But the memory of the early home lives on like a solitary star, burning in the gloom of night.”

“Will the memory be tender, restraining, refining and inspiring?”

“It would seem worthwhile for every mother to try to weave such memories into the early years of her children’s lives.  There is no surer way to bind them with chains of gold to God’s throne.  Where is the busy mother who cannot find ti
me enough to spend thus a few moments every night with each child before it falls asleep, in sweet, loving talk and tender, earnest prayer?  Far down into the years the memory of such sacred moments will go.”

“So the life of the true home flows on.  It shelters us in the day of storm.  Its friendships remain true and loyal.  It lays holy hands of benediction upon our heads as we go out to meet life’s struggles and duties.  It’s sacred influences keep us from many a sin.  Its memories are our richest inheritance.  Its inspirations are the secret strength of our lives in days of toil and care.  Then it teaches us to look toward heaven as the great Home in which all our hearts, hopes, and dreams shall be realized, and where the broken ties of earth shall be reunited.”

All quotes from Home-making, by J.R. Miller

This is why we do what we do.  It is so worth it.