Daughter

My daughter spoke LIFE to me today. Life such that I was able to stand tall and rejoice. Rejoice in all the pain, unrest, labor and stretching that I had gone through as a mother; Rejoice in the ‘scars’.

We moms are subject to attack on so many levels for just being moms. I think that the enemy of our souls does not like that we are raising tiny warriors for the kingdom, or that we defend the lives of powerful people, or that we love our families with a self sacrificing, all encompassing love that brings life and strength.

The kind of attack I am talking about is the attack on our ‘jobs’, our minds, our souls.

You see… I uttered the words. to my daughter, “I don’t think I handled raising her very well.” She took issue with this, with good cause, because not only do those words discount me, but they discount her and WHO she is as a person and a mother herself. I did not see this as I spoke them, until she said they were a lie.

I had let the enemy tell me a lie about my mothering, AND I believed it! I am thankful that my daughter called me on this. She sweetly pointed out that she would not be able to be the mom she is today had I not been the person I was to her. She reminded me of some of the things that I did and how I handled them… I had forgotten in all of the busy-ness of life and the drama of raising teens that there was a person inside of me that made an impact on my kids. This brings me to tears.

I am in observer/encourager mode now as my kids raise their kids. My daughter has a teenage daughter. My role interceding and being a cheerleader has SO much joy in it! I can be an active participant in their lives simply being a Mom and Mimi on her knees.

The irony of this is that I am also walking through a season of encouraging my mother who has lost much of her physical and mental ability to carry on. Being in the middle of two generations has taken an emotional toll on me, yet… I would not trade this time for anything.

I don’t feel capable or able, but as I tie my mama’s shoe, she strokes my hair and I feel the mommy-daughter love that surely my daughter and I have partaken in, and she and her daughter enjoy as well. The power in this relationship and the gift that will carry on from generation to generation is evident.

Thank YOU dear Lord for reminding me that the job we do as a mother, no matter the inadequacy we feel, is done with great love and power for a higher purpose than we can ever realize!

"One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts..." -Psalms 145:4