Best Mom in the World

It's interesting to look back and reflect on what I thought made a mom great BEFORE actually being one.  Since I didn't have children until my late thirties I had plenty of time to observe the things other mothers did and didn't do and I had a whole mental list of things I would NEVER do as a mother.  Didn't we all have those lists?  I'll bet that for many of us the things that topped that list were the things that our own mothers did or didn't do. 

If you had asked me what made a mom great 10 years ago I'm not sure what I would have told you.  Most likely I would have said making great meals (that they would actually eat), taking them to piano lessons, soccer practice, dance class, Karate class and boy or girl scouts without complaining.  (I know now this would be impossible).  I probably would have told you that a good mom takes their children to church to teach them about God and certainly a good mom wouldn't let their children drink soda!!! 

My ideas on what a makes a mom great at this point are very different that they once were.  The funny thing is that what I think makes me a good mom and what my girls think makes me a good mom are completely different too.  Yesterday I was elevated to the status of "best mom in the whole world."  I don't like to brag, but it is true....yesterday in the eyes of my precious Haylee I was in fact the best mom in the world.  I didn't get the title by making her a gourmet meal, or by signing her up for extracurricular activities, or buying her a new toy or better yet an outfit.  What in the world did I do?  She asked me if I would paint her nails and I said yes.  That little girl lit up like a lighthouse and grabbed my leg and squeezed it with more happiness on her face than I thought could fit.  As I was getting my nail polish she must have told me 4 more times that I was the best mom ever.  I loved painting her nails, but not as much as she loved painting mine.  I look at my manicure with its seven different colors thinking that this has to be the best manicure I've ever had and I didn't even have to leave a tip. 

Yesterday I was reminded of an incredibly simple but powerful truth that I forget too often.  My girls don't want "stuff" nearly as much as they want me.  They want my time and attention, they NEED my time and attention.  It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day things that never end.  I painted nails with Haylee while the dishes sat in the sink and the laundry sat in the washer.  I have to remember that the dishes and laundry can wait.  There will ALWAYS be dishes in the sink, but my daughter will not always be four.  Yesterday I chose what was good.  I pray for the wisdom to make many more good choices with the days I've been given. 

Hats & Titles

What in the world is Hats & Titles all about?  Pretty strange title for a blog I know, but it is what it is.  Here's where the hats come in.  A number of years ago I attended a Women of Faith conference at the MCI center in DC.  I can't remember the names of the speakers, but there was a woman that did a skit of sorts about all the hats a mom wears in the course of a day.  At the time I was single and worlds away from relating to her, but I found her entertaining to say the least.  She literally had countless hats that she put on her head and changed them as she sang her song describing a day in the life of a mom.  I was exhausted listening to her, and of course now that I'm a mother I understand COMPLETELY what she was talking about.  As mothers we want to be the best we can be for our children, right?  We want to meet their needs, we want them to thrive, we want them to know how much we love them....and to do this we inevitably wear a plethora of different hats in the course of a day.  We start out as the drill Sargent dragging them out of bed, then we are the chef, then the stylist choosing the outfit of the day (for little ones anyway), then we are the chauffeur, etc. etc.  You get the point? 

I was thinking about this the other day.  God doesn't have hats, but the initials after his name on a business card would be ridiculous.  God has more than a few titles.  When I  was looking up how many different names and titles there are for God in the Bible I was overwhelmed.  I never found a clear number and there were too many to try to count.  One site said there were 470+ different names and titles for God.  Why so many?  I don't know what the scholars would say about why there are so many, but I can tell you why I think there are so many.  We love our children, and because we love them we morph into whatever we are feasibly able to within reason to meet their needs.   Certainly we are limited, but God certainly is not.  As I read down the list of titles I smiled.  I felt so loved and cared for and protected.  I think God has so many titles because he loves us and he will be whatever he needs to be in order to teach us, protect us, and love us.  I jotted down a few of the names that stood out to me:

GOD IS:  Our Advocate, the Almighty, the Angel of God's Presence, Commander, Counselor, Deliverer, Everlasting Father, Faithful & True, The Good, Great and Chief Shepherd, King of Peace, Light of the World, Rock of Ages, Wisdom, Wonderful, Refuge from the Storm, the Hope of His People, a Sanctuary, the Intercessor, the Surety, He is our Helper,Physician, Healer, Refiner, Purifier, Example, Restorer, and our All in All. 

Why is this so striking to me?  Well, since becoming a mother I've learned to look at God in a different way.  One of the most common names for God is "our Heavenly Father".  We are His children.  It didn't completely click for me until I became a mother and began to see that there is no limit to what I wouldn't do for my children.  Now when I think about God as my Father it takes on an entirely new meaning. 

I'm in the midst of a struggle, and when I read that God is my Prince of Peace and my Fortress it means something to me.  When I read that He is my Deliverer and my Healer it means something to me.  When I read that He is my Restorer it means something to me.  As long as I have breath my girls will never go through a struggle without me by their side, and I take immense comfort in the fact that as long as I have breath I will never struggle without the Everlasting Father by my side.   It's never fun to be in a season of growth, but I have every confidence that it is most certainly not in vain, and I am most certainly never alone. 

"But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge."
Psalm 94:22

"Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning"
Psalm 30:5