GRATITUDE

Our pastor shared this story yesterday before the honoring of our soldiers, past and present, during worship yesterday.

An 84 year old man was traveling to France recently and was asked to show is passport. Unprepared for the request he had to stop and look through his things to find it among his travel papers. The french immigration official was impatient and irritated and rudely quipped, "Have you ever traveled to France before?" The elderly gentleman simply answered yes. The french official then said, "Well you should remember that you are required to have your passport ready for inspection when entering our country." To this the man quietly explained that he was not asked to present his passport on his last visit. "That is impossible" the Frenchman huffed. "All Americans are required to present a passport when entering France, NO EXCEPTIONS!" As the gentleman handed his passport over he calmly said, "When I last arrived in France on Omaha Beach to help liberate this country on D-day; June 6, 1944; I couldn't find a single Frenchman to give my passport. You could have heard a pin drop in that immigration office.

Thank you to all of the courageous men and women who protect our freedoms every day and help ensure freedom to others around the world. May we never forget the sacrifice others have made for us and our children.

The Mommy Society

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's and mommies to be. It is by far the greatest club I have ever joined. I always knew I would be a mom. I am the youngest in a very large family so I wasn't very familiar with taking care of younger ones...I was the one with big brothers and sisters taking care of me. So needless to say, when our first little man was born I was smitten with him but also taken aback by the unrelenting demands of motherhood. People had told me it was hard, but I was so blissful about having a baby that I just looked at it all through rose colored glasses. The first few weeks filled with
breast feeding - the first days were BRUTAL. Nursing bras, breast pumps, worrying if he was getting enough.
diapers - counting diapers each day to see if he was eating enough, washing at least one load of baby stuff each day to wash the spit up covered bibs or clothes covered in baby poo or pee...these were my clothes many days ;-)
colic - I am so thankful this only lasted a few weeks. No words can describe how awful this was for him and for me!
Sleep Deprivation - no more words needed.

If I was lucky I got a shower and was able to do it all again the next day...RINSE AND REPEAT! HAHA.

Eventually I found my groove in this mommy gig and I have to say it was with the help of so many other moms I know. Moms in the trenches with me with babies of their own helped me to know I was not alone having all of these mixed emotions. Moms with kiddos just a bit older than mine had great how to advice since they had just made it across this part of their journeys. Older moms with grown children gave the the vision that many of these challenges will pass and I will strangely miss them when they are gone...they were right! I don't know how I would make it through this journey without the other mommies encouraging me along the way. Now that I am a mom, i find myself trying to pass on the encouragement to others because boy do we need it! When I see a mom shopping with little ones and she is obviously been battling with the demands of the job, I always try to extend a smile her way and compliment or encourage her. I know some days the kindness and encouragement of a stranger meant the world to me.

So ladies, here's to motherhood...raising the next generation to know the Lord and live according to his purposes is a huge task we take on every day. These little people begin to see the heart of the Lord through us. We are their first loves and we hope through that love they learn to find an even deeper love with the Lord. This job requires a minimum of 16 hours each day and you are on call 24/7. It can be back breaking and will be heartbreaking. Good thing it pays better than any other job on the planet. The paycheck isn't dollars, mine have consisted of:
backyard flowers
pretty rocks
bugs in jars
a piece of gum...saved just for me
drawings
Lego creations
my favorite are the things that last forever...in my heart
hugs & kisses
happy smiles
snuggles & giggles
memories branded in my soul forever.

Happy Mother's Day to fellow society members :-)