Motherhood.  It’s an amazing and fantastic calling, a true privilege, but definitely not for the faint of heart. Being a mom of any tenure demands much hard work and selflessness from us, and most often needs to be met with determination, commitment, a good attitude, unending stamina and energy, character, creativity, a good sense of humor, wisdom and massive amounts of grace.  I know I rarely have all of these attributes functioning together in the same month, let alone the same day, which is why I desperately need Jesus – every day!

When I truly surrendered my life to Christ, my first child was already six years old. Like any mother, I had expectations of how I wanted this “parent/child thing” to go down. For example, expectations that my daughter would do well in school, be involved in music, sports and art, be perfectly polite and obedient in every way. That we would live life in peace and harmony. Once I became a Christian, I stepped up my game and read tons of books on parenting and my expectations increased – like if I did this formula and that one, I would produce this perfect Christian child. To my surprise, as I was striving away with my perfect expectations, it didn’t quite go as easily as planned.

It all began 7 years ago. That day I received the gift I had been praying for, for years. I was in my room where I had just delivered my first child, my son. In that moment everything was perfect. My son was healthy and we were all smiling. I had just gone through the longest labour I have ever gone through and there were many times where I wanted to give up, but I didn’t. I felt strong. I felt ready for this.