8,530 days ago, I became a first-time mother when God blessed me with a sweet little girl named Angelia Grace. She was perfect – her eyes, her nose, her skin and her toes! There are no human words that can fully express the joy of being a mom and how my heart and soul seem to “grow” as she grew… from her first smile, her first word, her first giggles to her first steps, her first day at school, her first skinned knee.
Motherhood is so many things – it’s listening, it’s snuggling, it’s protecting and it’s anticipating – always wanting to be sure our child is loved and cared for in a way that matters. I am so thankful that God allowed me to have this beautiful bundle of joy that is now 23, married and working full-time in ministry. It seems like it all went by so quickly and some days I would give anything to rewind the time and simply visit again the memorable moments of ballet and dance class, school choir, Awanas, and volleyball. The first and last day of school we had traditions of getting coffee before school, taking a carload of friends to lunch after school and doing something fun to commemorate the day. Those hundreds of common moments are all stored inside, many were captured in photos that reside in the cloud and a few were printed along the way and hung in frames or put in albums. When I think of Mother’s Day I rejoice for the irreplaceable, unique and uncommon gift of my little girl, now a wonderful married adult woman.
I am deeply grateful for her strong, Christ-like husband who cares for her and believes in her and cheers for her now from the front row of life. And though we are separated by six hours, we continue to have a loving and connected relationship that feels like “home” across the miles. I rejoice at her future – of being a wonderful wife, a writer, a leader, an advocate for young people and as she continues to grow forward, I rejoice!!! I sometimes find my heart reminiscing and wandering around in the past memories and I smile from deep inside – and then I look ahead at the everchanging adventure of life she and her hubby are on and I raise my hands in praise! “Thank you, God, for allowing me to mother this precious gift and I rejoice because I know that no matter how much I love her, you love her even more and you have amazing plans for her next 8,000+ days!”
Forever a Mom,
Tammy Daughtry, MMFT – Founder, Coparenting International and The Center for Modern Family Dynamics (www.CoParentingInternational.com)
