Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day tomorrow! This means that all over the country, mothers and mother figures are going to be thanked, remembered and praised for the incredible role they play in the lives of their children. I would like to reflect this Mother's Day on the life-changing journey motherhood actually is.   I am convinced being a parent is the hardest, most wonderful, most inspiring, most tiring, most miraculous, most rewarding job in the whole world, a job it is impossible to take it on without it having a profound impact on who you are as a person. I don't believe there is another vocation or calling quite as unique that really reveals who we are at the core of ourselves; our strengths, weaknesses, our unconquered giants and our victories. Motherhood is a gift given to many but one only fully embraced by some. The weight of the responsibility of being given a human being to bring into the world, to teach, raise, help, shape and set-up for a life of success is overwhelming to say the least. And although I believe every child is handpicked for the mother they are gifted to, yes the children we plan, the ones we don't, the one's we brought into the world and the ones who find their way into our world somehow... for some reason they are placed with us, we have something that child needs to become who they need to be.

I found myself realising this great weight the moment the nursing staff and my family left the hospital on the 8th of August 2009 and I was left with this tiny little baby girl I had just given birth to. This tiny little human with big eyes that stared at me who now relied on me for everything. Suddenly all the superficial preparation for motherhood, which involved picking a colour scheme for the nursery , some cute outfits from the shop and making sure we had all the baby products we could need, seemed unbelievably insignificant (even though it all was highly necessary, of course).


Our eldest daughter, Abigail Olivia has taught me some of the most heartfelt lessons about myself. I see so much of me as a child, in her. She has taught me to take time to just be together (she is a time love-language person too). I'm also a task person, I like the fulfillment and satisfaction from a job done well. Jobs can be done and finished. People are hard work and have a never quenched black hole for love and attention, in the best sense of the words. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes the hard work, the teaching, the lessons only pay off in the future. In the meantime you have to learn to just love and be. To choose joy and contentment in the process. I've learnt to let go control over the small things, the things that don't matter and to give my kids space to grow in ways that I may not identify with.


Noah Samuel Matthew has been an enigma we're still figuring out. He has taught me to hold tight and cherish the cuddles. He is our rough and tumble boy, always up for a race or a wrestle. He is also the one who will come cuddle in the morning when I need to get up and get the kids ready for school, and the one who wants me to lie with him at night when house work and cleaning up from a day's mess, is calling my name. His little voice reminds me to stop and to remember that I'll never regret those few minutes longer with them.


Eli Zachary Gavin has been one of my biggest learning opportunities. To learn how to let go of a little
life that you prayed for, dreamed of and carried to 18 weeks, is to be given the opportunity to find God in a way you never knew Him before. Holding our tiny baby boy in the hospital that day we were in a desperate situation, grasping for meaning and understanding. We came to know that their are certain things in life we can't explain or know the answer to, but we can come to know God is good, regardless. And if He is good, He has good things in store for us and a darn good reason why our baby boy's life needed to bypass earth and go straight to Heaven. Eli taught me to have an eternal perspective, that earth and life on it is just a breath of wind, here today, gone tomorrow. What is more important than happiness on this earth is a life grounded in the Eternal One, a life that will withstand storms and enter eternity whole.

God is a restorer of dreams and Jedidiah David Simeon has taught me though weeping endures for the night, joy really does come in the morning. Born one year to the month exactly, when we lost Eli, Jed has brought joy into our lives with a contagious energy, vibrancy and zest for life. Jed is our package of fun, the one God gave us to remind us to not take life so seriously.  By far my easiest baby, every part of being this boy's mama has been a blessing. I have learnt to have fun and to not sweat the small things.




And just when I thought I was done, just when I thought that our

family was complete, God allowed one more angel baby to pass through our little family and for just a few weeks to grow in our hearts and dreams. Harlow Haven Quinn wasn't planned but was a very welcomed surprise. I learnt that I really don't need to know why but that I can trust God, once again because He has never failed us yet. I once again found a place of refuge and joy and peace in God, a hole that could only be filled by God because Harlow had been taken from us. And what situation is there that can be despised when the outcome is a closer place to the Father?

Let's be honest, becoming a mother and growing in each season with them, is life-changing.

Nothing changes you quite like standing before God for a little person you want, more than anything else in this world, to overcome, to find their place in the world and in God and going in to bat for them. Nothing humbles you quite like the overwhelming feeling of not being enough, not knowing enough but knowing that God is more than enough
and more than able to be our help. There is nothing quite like motherhood to make you laugh, to fill you with purpose and to add meaning to your life. It is the highest calling, the greatest privilege and the most wonderful adventure as a family as well as with God. I am so blessed to have a God who steps in and fills the gaps. A God who actively participates in helping me daily.

 One of my greatest inspirations is my mother. My teacher in life as a young girl and now a often visited (and revisited) wealth of wisdom in my parenting journey to this point.

She taught me that being a mother is not a part-time job, it's a full-time ministry. My mother took her position in our lives very seriously. We were her responsibility, her pride and joy and we knew it because we were her priority. My mother prayed so hard for us I used to think she had been reading my diary (which I hid particularly well, so I knew that couldn't be the case). She would have just the right conversation with me at the point I needed it, whether I acknowledged it at the time or not. My mother treated us like we were important, not to breed arrogance but so that we were laden with purpose. My mother constantly reminded us of the importance of character and integrity and demonstrated that every day. We were shown faith first-hand, able to watch her pray and believe for miracles during hard times. We had a teacher who walked the talk and showed us how it was done.


Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there doing their best, falling and getting up again. Yes, we often lose sight of significance in the mundane; in the dinner-cooking, snot-wiping, clothes-washing day-to-day routine. In your care lie seeds of significance, in your hands lie everything you need for right now to bring that destiny forth. What you need for tomorrow is waiting for you in the Father. He hasn't called us to this job to leave us unequipped and overwhelmed. He is for us, He is for our kids and He won't fail us.

Have a fabulous day tomorrow! Drink the coffee. Eat the cake. Buy the shoes. Leave the dishes. Put your feet up and remember who has your back when you get up and go again the next day, changing one little life, one diaper at a time ;)