on moms.

i'm 30 years old and have 5 children, yet somehow "mom" seems like a bit of a foreign concept to me.

i mean, i do mom.  sometimes i even do mom pretty well, 

but i honestly forget that i have to be so grown up sometimes.

i remember so freshly some of the things about my mom that 

i'm beginning to see our kids remembering.

i remember how young & pretty she was when she'd pick us up from school in Lake Victoria. 

i remember how she never yelled.  not once.  

i remember a scene at the grocery store that i basically just re-enacted with chloe.

it involved hurrying out of the store & talks about womanhood.

[and how it sometimes catches you off guard.]

i remember her paying us quarters to practice french braiding our hair.

i remember her filling up an inflatable baby pool in the summer & sunbathing in it.

i remember how i would know the way i was talking was breaking her heart, 

but she was the person who i could trust would always love me anyway.

i'm so very thankful for the chance to be mom to these 5 kids.  

i'm so thankful that they get to have my mom as nana.

it is a surprisingly wonderful feeling to have 5 little parts of your heart

walking around separate from you.

i pray i can do this amazing calling justice.

that our children can know... 

how loved they are.

how treasured they are.

how they have a great plan that they were made for

in His image.

happy mother's day, friends.

if you are missing your kiddos or longing for them,

i'm praying especially for you tonight.