Photo Credit: © 2006 Lynne Holder

Friday, May 23, 2014

Mother's Day and Other Stuff

I love Mother's Day. 

Now that my babies have, or are expecting babies of their own, they are having their ah-hah moments about what goes into raising tiny humans. And they're sharing their revelations with me. 

Sweet, she says, with a bit of a smug grin.

My daughter, Alison, mom of rapidly changing 11-month-old Claire, sent me a lovely card with a hand-written note that pretty much sums it all up in the first line:

So being a mom is pretty much a rough gig--not for the faint of heart!

And the always enjoyable humor I can't wait to read from Jennifer, and now, 5-year-old Kate:

Grandma, you're always doing nice things for me, so I got you a card for Mother's Day because it was my turn to do something nice for you. 
Okay, now it's your turn again.

And then there was the card from my son, Justin, that just about made me cry my face off. I'm not going to share it or the other tear-jerker bits of all my cards, because I'd rather hide it all in my heart. 

Around this favorite day of mine, we found out our third grand baby, due the first week of October, is a boy. As Justin said in his text to the family, 

Pow. BOY. 

This was accompanied by a photo of a portion of the gender ultrasound, with only the word "BOY", and an arrow pointing to what is no doubt the bit of manhood that would prove this declaration. The important part was left out, but I'll take their word for it. 

I know I've said it before, but this motherhood gig has been the best job I've ever worked myself out of. I'm still a mother, but I guess you can say I am retired. I'm a grandmother too, but a long-distance one, which I will say, sucks. The upside to being 4 hours away from some of the family is that, starting in one week, all 4 of the kids and all the tiny humans will be living within about a 5 mile radius, and I get to see ALL of them in ONE place! 

In case it's not obvious, I'm a little excited about this. 

Now, in the "Other Stuff" category, I have a job prospect that dropped into my lap last week, with a company I interviewed with almost 2 years ago. Um, when does that ever happen? Somehow, one of the people I interviewed with, who couldn't have come across as more disinterested in our short conversation then, remembered my name 2 weeks ago. Then my phone rang. Then I started laughing as soon as that call ended.  


Only God could've been the orchestrator of the past several weeks of events in my family. Job transfers, job interviews, house selling and closed in a month, new housing found immediately…how encouraging it is to see God work at lightning speed after what seems like endless waiting. It has just about made my head spin, as well as the 2 families that are moving. 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. --Romans 8:28

How many times and for how many months, that turned into years, have I read those words? I have hung onto them when there wasn't much that I could see to give me reason to, but by faith I believed there is truth in them. I struggled to believe there was a promise there for me too. There is. 

I've hoped and prayed for my tight-knit family to be living in the same city, to be there for each other, cousins to grow up together, and now that's their reality. I've hoped and prayed for gainful employment and steady income, and I will keep you posted as the interview process continues. Whatever the outcome, I know it's for my good.

Update: The prayer for steady income has been answered, but not the way I expected. See, it's not me, it's God who supplies. Our photography business has been the best it's been in probably 3 years, for which we thank God and give Him all the glory. He is our Jehovah-Jireh. As for the company I interviewed with after the 2-year lapse, they flaked out on me again. After attempting to communicate with them regarding promised next steps in the interview process, all I heard was crickets. Well, there ya go! Now to order those new business cards....