How can it be May already, and we are even a week into it! Time sure flies. With May comes all sorts of things....Mother's Day, graduation celebrations and Memorial Day picnics. So much life lived and remembered!
I have a special memory to share with you where my daughter, LaDawn, challenged me about being a "real mom". We can sure laugh about it now---an apron in her eyes made one a real mom. Now she knows the truth of all that a "real mom" entails.
"Real moms" have hard days. And I, Gloria, have a special prayer request as on Wednesday (the 10th), I am undergoing another heart ablation. I have been having some recurrent A-fib issues and we are hopeful another ablation will help rectify them. However, the last time, we did experience some complications so we covet your prayers that all will go smooth, as planned and will have great results!
And now here....is how to be REAL MOM....
“Here, Mom, put this apron on so you can be a real mother!” There stood little blond haired, blue eyed, five year old LaDawn extending to me a white lace apron I had gotten years ago when serving coffee at a friend’s wedding. Busy making dinner and caught off guard I asked, “What did you say?”
Shoving the lace apron into my hand, she commanded, “Put this on so you can be a REAL MOM…REAL MOMS wear aprons.” With that statement, she insisted again that I put it on. Appeasing her request, I wrapped it around me and tied it. Needless to say, I looked silly frying hamburgers with a white lace apron and pink ribbons adorned with little white plastic wedding bells around my waist.
However, the grin on her little face as I put it on was worth a $1,000,000! She looked proud as punch and so pleased that she had transformed me into a REAL MOM!
I have relived that humorous memory many times. I often rewind and play the diary of my life and the role of having been a mother of three children living in a confining bus and traveling on the road over 300 days each year. What was my role as a mother? As far as my memory recollects, I was usually the one that woke up the children, got them showered and dressed for the day, fed them, homeschooled them, and read storybooks to them. I was usually the one who wiped runny noses and bloody noses and bandaged scraped knees and cut fingers. I was the one who washed and curled the girls’ hair and laundered the clothes. I was the one who usually took them to doctor appointments and made sure they got their vaccinations and fed them their daily vitamins. I was the one who helped them decorate the bus for each holiday and taught them the songs to sing on stage, as well as, the script to memorize for television specials. I bought their clothes, played dolls, and played favorite games of Sorry and Don’t Break the Ice with them. I was the one who helped them with bus chores and stayed awake in the night nursing colds, flu, chicken pox and croup. On the sidelines, I made them hundreds of peanut butter sandwiches. That was just part of my role, not even mentioning my jobs in ministry.
BUT…in LaDawn’s eyes…in order to be a REAL MOM, I needed to wear an apron. HA!
Mothers, wouldn’t life be a piece of cake if the only requirement to being a REAL MOM was to put on an apron? Now LaDawn is a mother and grandmother, and I can tease her a little. One day, a few years later, LaDawn was having a frustrating day. She directed her frustration to me, “Life is easy for you. All you have to do is be a mom!” I didn’t even waste my breath to disagree. I thought, “Your day is coming when you will understand.” And yes, it has, as I watch her juggle her work, two grown children and two grandchildren. And let me add, she does a great job navigating all her roles as a working mom. Often she calls me and chuckles, “Mom, it is so hard being a mom. I’m so tired and get exasperated trying to keep it all together and going. It’s hard.” Then tongue-in-cheek, she says, “Can I come home and be a little girl again with no responsibilities? Now I know all the things you did as a mom that I didn’t see or know about. I’m tired!!!”
I encourage her, “Cheer up! You have just begun. The easiest days were when they were little. Now with your two little grandchildren and your children…they are your heritage and your mission field because you are helping to shape their lives for all eternity.
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9
If all moms would allow that sobering fact to sink in, we would certainly change what things we deem priorities to what things are really priorities when raising children. We get so caught up in the “have to’s” and “to do’s” that we often fail to do what they really require and desire. (I have certainly been guilty of this). They truly yearn for our trust, encouragement, Godly example and instruction. They crave piles of patience and praise for doing good. They also long for a listening ear, loads of fun and laughter and forgiveness—not to mention a 24/7 prayer line for them.
In other words, THEY NEED MORE THAN YOUR APRON STRINGS!
Gloria
LEMON CHEESE BARS
1 yellow cake mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Mix dry cake mix, 1 egg and 1/3 cup oil until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of this mixture. Pat remaining mixture in an ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and lemon juice until light and smooth. Spread this over baked layer. Sprinkle top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 15 mintues longer. Cool and cut into bars.
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if the source of her symptoms could be identified. As they ran tests and ultimately did an ultrasound, it was discovered that she had a blood clot in each lung and one also in her leg. This needed immediate action so she was taken by ambulance to Vanderbilt Hospital. We are thankful for God's timing and hand in all of this. They ran numerous tests, gave blood transfusions and watched her numbers closely to make sure things didn't get worse and to also identify what was taking place in her body. 
g experiences and all the letters, texts, and calls we have received from parents that are hurting, wounded, unsure, and broken. We want everything to be perfect in our families, but the reality is we live in an imperfect world and things don’t always go how we desire them to. What do we do when that is the case?