Matt always laughs at me when I say that we’re heading over the mountain, but that’s what I grew up saying. Kinda like calling the creek a crick. So over the mountain we headed to Grammy and Papa’s. The kids are always giddy with excitement to go see the grandparents and aunts and uncles. It’s always refreshing to pass under the looming green trees through the forest, Mt. Hood beaming above and enter into the drier wide open spaces. It’s a different kind of pretty there but it’s soothing and familiar in a way. I love on clear days when you can see all the mountain ranges and bright green pastures. Just spectacular. I also like trading in the bike riding hipsters, small cars, and bustling sounds of the city for a few days for the over sized SUV’s, Ford Excessives (as my husband calls them), cows and horses roaming in the fields, deer that come close enough to eat out of your garden and some good ‘ol country music. It’s just a different kind of weird depending on who you are and where you’ve grown up.
We spent our Friday lounging in the sun (I worked on a very nice burn that still stings) and the kids played with papa being pulled in a trailer behind the tractor. I’m sure some of you are gasping with fright but I assure you it was safe and the kids were living the dream. That’s just not something you can do in the city.
One of the greatest parts of our trip was that Matt and I left the kids at my parents and we spent the night with my wonderful aunt in her new house so we could get two full nights of sleep. Someone at church today even told us we looked young. I laughed out loud knowing that it was because we had just had two good nights sleep which is a miracle. We arrived at her place and were greeted with a gift bag, the amenities of a bed and breakfast and the most delightful and relaxing stay with wonderful company.
Saturday we were blessed to meet with some ministry partners and then head to the lake for some boating fun. Jenna loves the thrill of a fast boat ride, Isaac declared it as scary but liked driving it while it was sitting still, and they both reeled in several fish during our time out fishing. It was the most wonderfully fun and relaxing day!
Mother’s Day always brings mixed emotions for me. It’s a love hate relationship really. I wish that mothers were honored every day and not just a forced day once a year (I know that’s the extreme case). I’m so grateful that I get to participate as a mom in this day but I know first hand the pain that comes with longing to be a mother of a child and having a barren womb, the loss of a baby and the sick feeling of hopelessness so a day like Mother’s day only seems to poke at a wound for so many. I love it because I have a great, loving, sacrificing mother and grandmother who are still alive. But I also have friends who don’t have mothers still present with them. I know those who once had a child they held in their arms but is no longer living on this earth or they are but are being raised by someone else. Oh the ache that must bring. I know the incredible blessing of holding two miracle babies in my arms and living daily life with those precious gifts and I never take that for granted. I love my kids so much. I also know friends who would make great parents and are not able to have any. I know that having biological children doesn’t mean you can’t be a mother. I’ve been mothered by women who were barren but they gave their love and poured into me spiritually and that too is a gift that I am grateful for even though I am not their child in the way the world sees it.
So today when the mothers were asked to stand in church and be honored (I know it’s with good intentions) my heart sank because I know the pain that some experience as they felt alienated as they sat in that pew longing to be something they are not. I watched a woman in front of me well up with tears and then as another woman touched her arm to bring comfort her and tears spilled over and I knew some hearts were bleeding out from the pain. Oh how sweet and how difficult this day can be.
I never take lightly that I have fabulous moms in my life and that I have the joy to be called mom by two incredibly beautiful children. The Lord has surely been gracious to me. But I also know that if I didn’t have those things God wouldn’t be any less loving or gracious.
We drove back over the mountain so grateful for a wonderful family, not perfect but wonderful none-the-less, a refreshing time and two exhausted kids. It took Isaac 8 minutes to fall asleep. Now that my friends is a weekend well spent.