‘Til Death do us part. Wedding vows. Something we have to choose to do. We have to choose to love our mate in the good, bad, and ugly…until death parts us. On the flip side, as a mother, you don’t have to tell me to love my kids until death parts us. God has instilled in us to love them and to protect them no matter what. God gives fathers a different kind of love, and while it is equally important, it is different. Moms (and dads) will do crazy things for their babies. This is true not just in humans, but can be seen all over the animal kingdom. What is one of the most dangerous situations you can face in nature? Getting between a mama and her babies. Whether it be a bear, moose, deer, cow, or chicken. You don’t want to get between them or else you will get hurt or even killed. Today while baling hay, the boys didn’t know that a hen turkey had nested in the tall, plush hay. The mama turkey had to hear the tractor and know it was coming, but she didn’t move. She never left her babies. She stayed with them…’til death. The boys didn’t know she was there or would have driven around her and her nest, but the hay was tall and she was nestled down in the bottom of the grass, trying to protect her eggs. She could have flown away when she heard the tractors approaching, but instead sat on those eggs to protect her babies. This has happened to us before, and sometimes the ending is a lot happier. Sometimes we get stopped before we destroy the nest. Sometimes the eggs are not harmed and we can hatch them off and return them to the woods. But today we weren’t as fortunate. Today a mama turkey lost her life trying to protect her babies. It is what mothers and fathers do, they protect their babies from harm. Admittedly, there are a lot of days I feel like a failure as a mom. The house is a mess, I’m a mess, the kids are fighting, I’m raising my voice (ok, I’m yelling), the laundry isn’t done, there’s a mysterious odor coming from my car, we are out of milk, and I just served a frozen pizza for supper for the 4th night this week. And let’s not forget that I didn’t give them money for a school function and that I forgot that their Mother’s Day program was today at school. (Thanks to the teachers that use the Remind 101 app!) Some days I am just managing to get through the day, and then God gives me that glimmer of hope that I am not an epic failure. I have hope when I see the kids pray, make good grades, help others, and take care of their siblings. This hope, along with instinct, caffeine, adrenaline, essential oils and a whole lot of Jesus, fuels me through another day. As mothers, let us be thankful for the privilege to be called mothers even on the days when we just want to hide in the closet and eat chocolate. Thankful for that protective instinct that is a reflex for us, something that we never have to think about. An instinct that will drive us to do crazy things, say things that do not make sense, fight someone twice our size, or try to lift something 10 times our weight. It is a God-given gift to help us protect His children…our blessings. While God has provided us with the instinct, there are also things that we have learned from other people. The mothers, step-mothers, and mother-figures in our lives that took care of us to get us to this point, knowing they weren’t perfect either, but gave us guidance when we needed it. Without earthly guidance from other Godly women, we wouldn’t be who we are today. In all the joys of motherhood, there is much sadness for some as we approach Mother’s Day. May we be prayerful for those who have lost their moms, women who want to desperately become moms, and those moms who have lost children. Even in the sorrows, may we celebrate good lives that were lived, and good memories. Through all the good times and bad, let us be thankful for the gift of mothers and motherhood. Happy Mother’s Day!
“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” Proverbs 31:28
