Why I love Motherhood

Everything's Sweeter with FOUR!

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Facebook is filled with jokes about children and motherhood.  Everyday friends who are wonderful mothers, who love motherhood, share memes about how ridiculously hard and awful motherhood can be.  I'm guilty of it, just read my last post (from 2 years ago ya I'm a great blogger).  It's fun to laugh at how hard life as a mom can be.  But this morning I started thinking about what kind of a message are we sending to woman around the world who are not yet mothers.

Why on earth would I want to be a mother if every mom I knew consistently talked about how frustrating it is; about how exhausting it is and how it has changed their life forever in the negative.  Think about the last baby shower you went to. Eventually the conversation turns to how horrible your birth story was. And as women, who love to share, we explain "well you think that's bad..." as we continue to one up each other with our horrible stories.  Who would want to get pregnant after that?

But the second problem is, how can we share about motherhood with out bragging or appearing stepfordish? "Hi everyone I love being a mom because I have a perfect family and my home is always clean and my life is always wonderful." Please that is so far from the truth no matter who you are.  So, here's my attempt to express why motherhood is amazing to me in a real way.

1. Motherhood does change your life.  It makes you a better woman.  I thought I understood love, patience, forgiveness, service, compassion, and self control before motherhood.  I'm sure what I have learned in the past 8 years as a mom is nothing compared to what I'll know after years with teenagers, married children, and grandchildren

2. I love being part of the future.  If you want to be remembered for generations and make a difference in the world, then become a mother.  It is so rewarding to see your daughter show qualities of faith, honesty, and compassion.  All qualities she wouldn't have without consistent lessons, and redirecting. The world can be a cold, thoughtless place.  One sure way to influence the world is to raise children of faith, compassion, and love, who desires to make the world a better place. Recognizing that these qualities will continue to pass down from one generation to the next influencing thousands for eternity.

3. Motherhood brings me daily joy.  True joy, not fleeing happiness.  Joy when your child snuggles you. Joy when you child smiles at you. Joy when you look at an infant and feel this overwhelming power of love. Recognizing that you and your husband partnered with God to create life, and provide a loving home for His child to be raised up to return to Him.

Yes, we all have days where we feel like the invisible mother, or the lady about to lose her mind. We potty train and change diapers. We taxi our kids everywhere they need to go.  We yell and nag.  We drag kids out of bed and don't forget our bodies are never going to be the same. BUT... we love it, and would never change it for all the world.  So remember the next time you might "like" a post that degrades yourself or your precious child, what message are you sending?