Happy Mother’s Day!

On this Mother’s Day, 2014, I want to pay tribute to the moms in my life. Quite naturally I must start with my own mom who sadly is no longer living, but is still with us in spirit. She is the mom I knew first, the mom who brought me into this world, and the mom who loved and nurtured me.

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Growing up, Mom was the adult I interacted with the most, as unlike my dad, she did not work outside the home. She raised me into what I would like to be called, “a fine young Christian man.” I can’t begin to fathom all of the things my mom taught me but I am sure that most of them are still with me today (at least the ones I can still remember).

But I suspect I probably taught my mother some things myself. Since I was the first son she had following two daughters and not having had brothers of her own, I was the first little man she would have been exposed to on a full time basis in her life. But no matter what difficulties I may have posed to her in the things I tried to “teach her”, I know she always loved me and always showed me that love with a hug whenever she saw me. Those hugs I still share even with someone I may have just met because it shows love and care for someone.

So thanks, Mom for all you did for me!

The second mom up would be my wife, the mother of our three children. Over 30 plus years of marriage, I have seen how she has interacted with our children and I have seen in our children the things she taught them that I wasn’t around to see. And I have been amazed! There is no question in my mind that she has loved and treasured our children their entire lives as only a mother can.

When our kids were young, she was the adult that interacted with them the most, as she too did not work outside the home. She was the one who taught them to play, to be individuals, to be independent. She encouraged them and supported them and cheered them on.

I credit my wife with most of the raising of our children and introducing wonderful ideas. Like when we wanted to take a nice vacation, it was my wife that came up with the idea of us all pitching in to clean the house and paying ourselves the money to save for that vacation so we all would know that we contributed to making that vacation possible.

It was also my wife who introduced us to weekly family meetings where any number of items or issues was discussed and allowances were paid out. We still have the minutes from those meetings and on our 25^th wedding anniversary; our kids went through them laughing with sheer delight at what was captured forever in those writings.

By far, she was (and is) the best mom a child could ever hope for and if you asked any of our three children today, I know they would say the same.

So thanks to my wife for all you have done for our children!

The third mom to whom I want to pay tribute is my one daughter—Daddy’s little girl—who is three months away from bringing her first child into the world.

I knew early on that she would want to be a mom one day as she loved dolls and often would line up “her family” when it came naptime.

Not only do I know she wanted to become a mom one day but she found the perfect husband to start a family with. She has been chronicling her pregnancy on her blog post and the love she has written about grows with each post. So even before she has even delivered her little one, the love for their first child is obvious.

On this Mother’s Day, she will literally be carrying her baby around with her everywhere she goes.

It is these three moms that put being a mother into context for me. And it is one amazing context that I am literally in awe about.

So it is to you three, my mom, my wife, and my daughter, that I acknowledge on this day with incredible appreciation and love.

Happy Mother’s Day!