She gave up her nursing career to stay at home and raise me.

She was good at her job; everyone loved her & she loved working at the nursing home helping the elderly at a time in their lives when they needed lots of care & lots of love.

She has always been the one you find in the trenches, pouring her heart out as she’s making a meal, ironing clothes, scrubbing toilets, running errands, working the home business, or sitting across the table listening & encouraging you.

She could have chosen her career over staying home to raise me.  The paycheck & retirement would have been nice, the job title would have been revered & the hours would have been predictable. But instead, she chose to sacrifice all of that for me.

It’s humbling more than you know, it really, really is. 

She saw beyond the moment & knew the sacrifice she made then would be rewarded later. She was wise & oh so right.

35 years later, my foundation & faith in Christ is strong. My knowledge & understanding of the Bible is a gift I attribute to the endless hours my mom sacrificed of her time to teach me Truth from the Word, both in word & action.  I am blessed beyond measure; more than elaborate words could ever express.  I’m here today, as the woman who sits behind this keyboard, all because my mother chose sacrifice over self.

When I read Emily Wierenga‘s post on The Better Mom, it made me think of my Mom & how beautifully she exemplified motherhood to me.  Never once have I heard her utter regret for leaving a career behind to raise me. Deeply embedded in my heart are memories with her that cameras didn’t capture, yet time cannot erase.

• Making a Strawberry Shortcake blanket & matching curtains for my bedroom
• Taking the time to play hide & seek, instead of sitting at her desk working
• Endless hours spent driving me to & from my piano lessons, not to mention her encouragement along the way
• Constant affirmation when I did something right; telling me how proud she was of even the smallest accomplishment
• Her voice when reading my favorite Winnie the Pooh book, over & over again, yet each time with the best animated voice I’d ever heard
• Her laughter when I said “LIBS” when reading lbs (pounds) on a piece of paper
• Her tears when I got sassy with her & broke her heart; how it crushed her for me to show such disrespect
• Her encouragement as she identified my gift of encouragement & writing. I truly would not be sitting here today if it had not been for her belief in me

I could go on & on, but time won’t allow. My point is this:

As a Mom or step mamma, it’s often difficult to see beyond the moment, much less into the future, but we need to do just that! We need to take a moment, sit before our Father & seek His direction for our lives & the lives of our children.

We only get one chance to raise them: one chance to change the world. 
How does God want us to do that & what sacrifice does it require?

The rose is accompanied by the thorn.

A house is built after toiling long hours.

A child is born after intense labor & pain.

Salvation came through Jesus’ death on the cross.

Sacrificial Motherhood:
It’s never easy and it’s not always pretty,
but there will never be a greater accomplishment in life!