P.S. I Love You

Dear Mom,

Every year there is one day set aside that we celebrate mothers and all that they do for us. We buy them flowers, give them gifts, and seek to thank them for their impact on our lives. The question is - how can we in one day thank our moms for all that they do for us EVERY day - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? How can I thank you, Mom, for all that YOU do and are and mean to me?? I don't know how.

You are amazing, Mom. They say that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world and you have rocked TEN cradles! That should mean that you will have 10 times the impact on the world. You have undertaken the greatest task any one ever could - to raise up the next generation, a generation that with a Biblical worldview that can effect change in the world. And, yet, this noble calling entails much daily, mundane work. You cook, you clean, you rock sick children, you discipline, you teach, you train, you clean up throw up, you smile, you love, you hug, you support, you encourage, you plan birthday parties, you make every child feel special, you listen, you counsel, you stay up all night with the feverish and still get up the next day, you do laundry and laundry and laundry, you step back and let us make our own choices and then are there to pick up the pieces when we fall apart and don't even say I told you so. You do all of this willingly, every day, for all of us. You have done and do this for me, Mom. You lay down your life for us...for ME. Do you know that I love you? Cause I do. I know you don't feel like doing all of this every day of every year. But you do it anyway and keep on doing it because you love us. And I love you too. I don't even know how to tell you how much I love you.

As I have gotten older, we have become more than mother and daughter and become friends. I love giggling with you and talking about girl stuff and our early morning coffee chats when we are supposed to be having our quiet times. You are so strong too....I don't know how you keep going, keep smiling, never give up even when you are sick, tired, and discouraged. You tell us you are fine and remind us to get enough sleep at night with true concern in your voice, but the truth is you haven't slept enough for months or maybe years. Or maybe since you became a mom. Thank you, Mom. I love you for that. And I love the fact that you listen...even when your ears probably feel like they are going to fall off and even when you are so tired you fall asleep halfway through and we have to keep waking you up. Thanks Mom. I always know I can talk to you and that you will care. And thank you for doing special stuff for us even when some people (not me, I do have to say! :) don't get their chores done and make you sorry that you did something special, thank you for still doing a special thing the next time. I love you for that.

Thank you for home schooling us. I know it would have been easier to just send us all off to some school. Maybe then your task as mother would have been only 10 times impossible instead of twenty. But you cared enough to protect us and to instill in us the values that you believed were important. Thanks Mom, I love you for doing that for me. Thank you too for paying for music lessons and driving me to them and letting me practice (as much as you did! :) even when you were about to scream if you had to listen to one more minute and when you thought that maybe we could actually feed Taylor if we didn't have to pay for lessons and when you were pretty sure that the car could find its own way to lessons from going there so much. I love you for doing that for me.

Well, Mom, the list could go on and on and on forever. But the point is, thank you so much for all that you are and do for me and have done for me. You are incredible and beautiful - inside and out. I love you a million red m&ms. Happy Mother's Day! :)

Love,
Tiffany

P.S. - Did I mention that I love you?