I come from a long line of mothers. My mom is a mother. Her mom was a mother and her mom before her. I didn’t know my great grandmother on that side of the family, but I have it on good authority that she was, in fact, a mother. So there is a strong history of mothering in my family. Yours, too? Well, how about that!

Our influence on this earth is limited. I can only go back a couple of generations on either side of my family, and have any real first hand knowledge of those women who led lives that led to me. I didn’t know them, and they didn’t know me. Yet they passed down a legacy anyway that impacts my life today. The choices those women made, the lives they lived, affect me.

It’s hard to think about the fact that the same will be true of the generations that come after me. If I live to be a hundred years old, I would still probably not really know any of my great grandchildren. If I last on this earth until they are born, I’ll likely be a bit nuts by then, which will probably have an adverse effect on any real impact I will have. I say that to say this, we have to make the most of our presence on the earth, while we can, to the people we can, before our brains begin to pickle. And as mothers, our children need to be at the top of that list of people.

Part of the reason I write down these random thoughts I have, is so that after I’m gone, my kids will have a tangible legacy from me. They can go back and read what mom thought about faith, marriage, friendship, football and the like. If they struggle in an area, they can go back and see that mom might have struggled too, and what she did about it. Mostly I hope they go back and read about how much I loved God, their dad, and them.

They won’t find that their mom was perfect or that she had it all together. They already know the truth about that. But I hope they will one day discover that I truly lived what I said I believed, and that it was a life worth living. I hope they will read my words and share those with their kids, and maybe their grandkids, one day.

The way we mother leaves definite fingerprints on the lives of our children. You know it’s true. Your mother’s fingerprints are all over you, for better or for worse. Don’t you know Freud blamed all that’s wrong with all of us on our mothers? I’m not sure I really believe all that he said, but he was right about one thing, mothers do leave an impression on the lives of their kids.

Mothers are completely different animals from dads. That’s just how it’s supposed to be. I’m not saying it’s better, I’m saying it’s different. Moms tend to look to the heart of their kids. We know what makes them tick. It’s probably because they spent the first nine months inside us. For a while we were connected, literally, and so that connection continues after that physical link is broken.

It’s just a mother thing. Its something we cannot ever take for granted. You have been charged with mothering the children in your care. Remember to make it a priority, no matter how old they are. Your personal influence is fleeting, but your legacy will impact generations. When people see the fingerprints you leave behind, what will they see?

 

Happy Mother’s Day, friends! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Mothers Day, friends!