My daughter certainly gave me a memorable day that started with breakfast in bed and beautiful gifts and cards, followed by a lovely family meal after church.
In the midst of our adoption I longed for the day we would celebrate Mother's Day together. I had a long wait to bring my daughter home. I had to fight systems, social workers and courts to be deemed worthy of the title 'mother'.
I won the battle and I cling firmly to the privilege of being a mother. I cherish every moment of being a Mum. I am forever grateful for the blessings motherhood has brought to my life.
For many, Mother's Day can be a day too painful, a day of heartache. There are some still battling for their title, through adoption processes or fertility treatment. Others I know have had miscarriages and today they mourn. Others too have lost their children to disease or illness. Today their grief is raw. They wish for today to pass unnoticed. For shop shelves to empty of the keepsakes that are all too distressful a reminder of their loss.
Then there are children who have known a mother's touch but who's mothers have been taken away far too soon. Today they grieve; they remember. They embrace the treasured memories they have.
Around the world, children wait in orphanages/institutions longing for a mother's touch. I read a quote online recently that implied you only get one mother. For children caught up in care systems there is little hope in that statement. True enough, you only get one birth mother, but adoption or foster care gives children a second chance of having a Mum to call their own. Adoption made me a Mum.
So today, like my church, I want to celebrate ALL women: those with us and those taken away; those with children and those without; birth mums, adoptive mums, foster mums; those awaiting their precious bundles and those whose children have passed away from this world; those who choose to remain childless and those still battling for the role.
Today I am thankful to have felt a mother's touch and to be a mother. More so today, I celebrate being an amazingly and miraculously made woman. Go and celebrate all the exceptional and extraordinary women in your life today.
