A Mother's Gift Makes Room for Her Story

When my daughter was born, I remember sitting in the living room of my apartment wondering how life would be with her. I just transitioned home full-time from my job and there was no manual or workbook that taught me how to be a stay-at-home parent. Leaving the hospital was real for me because that meant that I was getting ready to experience the real life of motherhood. As exciting as it was, I was also very curious about how my husband and I would handle life with a new baby.

I sought out different avenues to do something I enjoyed alongside being a full-time mom. One day, I started to dabble into something I didn't know I was going to get myself into. One thing that connected me and my daughter together was book reading. Although she was so small, her eyes would light up through the pages of a children's book. That bond was a special moment for me as a first time mother.

Three months into motherhood I found myself creating a custom children's book for my daughter. I went into one of my favorite apps to develop characters, words, and pages of a children's book just for my little girl. Creating was a way I invested in myself during the working home hours of motherhood. It was a time where I would lay down the dishes and the laundry to create. I shared the book I made for my daughter and was shocked at the amount of mothers that wanted a book for their children. That turned into setting up a website with an online store to serve children through books customized just for them.

In the mundane moments of motherhood, God makes room for a mother's gift that is connected from her story. Even though what I was creating was beautiful, I remember weeks began to get a bit harder with motherhood and everything started to feel like a draining to-do list. I knew I didn't want that to be my story so each day I worked to build my identity in who God said I was as a mother and not solely based off what I did. As creating, crafting, and writing was a beautiful thing---what was more beautiful was finding that motherhood in itself was a gift even if I didn't have the responsibilities of daily morning routines, laundry, and dirty dishes attached to it.

My gift as a mother from the Lord is the opportunity to serve my children with joy, gladness, and with a heart of thanksgiving. When my heart gets weary and I think my worth as a mother is found in my to-do list, I get to remember that even without the added tasks list, motherhood in itself is a special gift God gave me with a unique story attached to it.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 CSB