My 1st Mother’s Day?

This past week, I have had several people tell me “Happy 1st mother’s day!”  It feels so crazy, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that from now on, this holiday applies to me!

So in celebration of my 1st Mother’s Day as a mom (still weird), I thought I would take a moment to celebrate some of the things about my mom that I hope to emulate in my parenting:

• My mother is so sacrificial.  My whole life, I watched my mom give up pursuing things for herself for the sake of our family.  My mom stayed home to raise my sister, brother and I, which was a financial sacrifice.  She was willing to give up buying extra things for herself, nice vacations, and many other things to invest her whole life in our growth and development.  And she always exuded so much joy!  She was always there when we needed someone to listen or ask questions to; she used every day life experiences to teach us about Jesus; and she was so creative and imaginative, I remember having such a fun childhood!  I pray that I would be able to imitate my mother in these things and bless my children in the numerous ways she has blessed us!
• She taught us to care for others.  Growing up, my mother and father would have our whole family do things like volunteer at the local soup kitchen, get to know and love some of the poor in our area or people who were different from us, and throughout my life I watched my mom volunteer and serve in the community.  When I was in middle school, my mom started a program at my school called “Make a Difference,” where she would gather all the kids who would stay after school for detention and instead of them just sitting in a classroom, she would have them help her beautify our school by planting flowers and picking up trash.  This meant that I often had to stay after school to help as well, but I didn’t mind.  I loved watching the way the kids lit up around my mom, and had so much fun making our school pretty.  And the school definitely looked WAY nicer by the time my mom and “Make a Difference” had gotten a hold of it!  I remember even then thinking that I wanted to be just like my mom one day and do something like that.  Her actions taught me to think for others and use my life to serve and show Christ to everyone around me.  I want to be this same type of example for my children, and disciple them in this way by bringing them along with me as I live out faith in Christ.
• She was just so fun!  I already alluded to this above, but my mom loved being a mom and it showed.  Even watching her with my 9 month old niece today I see the mom she was to me coming out.  She is so laid back she doesn’t get stressed by the little things, she is creative and thinks of fun things to do even just around the house, and she laughs so much.  What better environment for a child to grow up in?  I hope to provide the same atmosphere for my little ones.
• She always took interest in the things we were interested in.  I think my mom deserves some kind of award for the many hours she spent playing Barbie’s with me …how boring!  But she was such a trooper.  I do not ever remember her turning me down if I wanted her to play with me.  When I went through my Wizard of Oz phase, she would braid my hair in pigtails, let me wear my sparkly red dress up shoes, and threw me the most amazing Wizard of Oz birthday party ever!  She made me feel the freedom to love anything I loved or explore anything I found interesting.
• She is so loving and caring.  I have many memories of crawling up in my mom’s lap, her stroking my hair, singing to me when I was scared, and always comforting me.  I had terrible asthma attacks as a child, and often had to use a breathing machine.  It was so scary not being able to breathe, but my mom would just hold me close, rub my back, whisper to me and calm me down.  The world is a scary place as a little kid, and I hope to offer the same kind of comfort and safe haven that my mother did for me.

That is only to mention a few of many things I have really come to appreciate about Laurie Bridges, that I hope to show in my motherhood as well.

Happy mother’s day mom, I love you!