The Gift I Really Want for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day has me looking through old photographs, reminiscing.  My kids are older now, 19, 17 and 14. They aren’t thrilled to have their picture taken. I have so many good ones from when they were kids.  I love the pictures of them all together, the way they hang on each other, lean in to one another and show up as a team.  That’s a mother’s heart, right? That her kids would support one another and walk together through life. I was thinking about Mother’s Day and what I really want.  I think we all really want reassurance that the way we mother and have mothered is good enough.  We want a nod from the future telling us it’s all going to be okay.  We want to know the kids are alright. Amen?

So, here’s my letter to my kids this year about what I really want for Mother’s Day.

Don’t worry about getting me a trinket for Mother’s Day. Here is my heart’s desire.

I pray that you like yourself. That you feel content in the deepest recesses of your heart. That you know how loved, how wanted, how cherished you are. That you live fully and love deeply and spill kindness out of your pores. That God’s light would wrap you up and keep you warm and propel you to shine. I pray you show up with every ounce of your being. That you love honestly and with integrity and with purpose. That people leave your presence feeling good about themselves…that you have a generous spirit.  That you will greet each day as an adventure and an opportunity and that even in the boring and tough days you will laugh and see it all unfolding as it should.

Will you gift this to me? Are you willing to acknowledge this dream of mine? This longing in my heart? Will you live your life…full, authentic, honest, expectant and joyous? That’s what I want.

I want to know that my mistakes and blunders and outbursts only added flashes of temporary color to the memories but no permanent stain. That in my humanness you witness a redeemed soul, far from perfect but living real…my heart set on being better every day. That you receive life as a gift. Precious but not too much so. That you allow yourself to get dirty and take the tough knocks and come out standing, victorious. I pray you jump in the puddles and dance on the table and laugh with abandon. I pray that you listen intently and stay awake to the world while staying apart from it in your heart, careful to not be snared into foolish traps. I pray you find stillness and contentment and joy. I pray that grace would lead in your language and your actions. That faith will always be your cornerstone…deep abiding trust that all is well.

That is what I want for Mother’s Day.

I want you…fully alive and present for the life that awaits you.

This is your gift to me.

©2017 Sue Bidstrup, Great Big YES™ All Rights Reserved