{a thank you}

Before my days as "momma" I was known for my handmade cards. Birthdays, weddings, new babies, graduations...they were all cause for me to break out my towering stash of patterned paper, binders overflowing with stickers, and of course my color-coded jars of buttons. It was one of my joys in life...to hand a family member or friend a piece of me to celebrate whatever was going on in their life.

(Mother's Day tea invitation from 2007)


Then the boys arrived.

And with horror I was relegated to the card aisle at Walmart, CVS, Hobby Lobby...you get the idea. I thought that my days of creating frame-worthy cards (of course every single one I've made has been preserved for eternity behind museum-quality glass, right?) were over.

I took that one hard.

Fast forward almost two years later, and I'm back people. Back in the card-making business.

And oh how sweet it is.

But the one thing about making cards is that it is entirely up to the card-maker to come up with the laugh-inducing and/or tear-provoking sentiment. And sometimes I struggle with that part...finding just the right words to show the recipient what I'm thinking and feeling.

How much I love them.

How excited I am for them.

Just how big a place they hold in my heart.

And that brings me to Mother's Day. Wow does that holiday ever take on a new meaning when you become a mother. Every year since I can remember I have given my mom a special gift to thank her for being my mom. One year it was a pearl ring, another it was a handmade mini scrapbook. And with those gifts I thanked her with the depth of appreciation I knew how to articulate.

But then I became a mom.

And I realized just WHAT she did for me. It is pretty amazing really. The sacrifice moms make. And how do I translate that into a few lines on a card?

In the car on my way home to lunch today, I was taking in the inspiring views of our local park, thinking about what I would write in my Mom's card. What words will show her how grateful I am for the the fact that she went through the whole process of being a mom for me. How do I sum up the process that is motherhood?

And then two words popped into my head (a gift from God I'm sure)...

beautiful struggle

Quite a contradiction of terms, right?

How can anything that is a struggle contain beauty? I never knew the answer until I became a mother.

The absolute joy mixed with overwhelming fear. The laughter until your face hurts blended with the crying until you just can't find anymore tears. The forever changed body held tightly by those sweet little toddler arms.

The wondering if you will ever feel like yourself again walking side by side with the feeling that you are a better person than you ever were before.

What a beautiful struggle it is.

Thanks to my mom, and for all moms, for taking on such a life-changing struggle, and for doing it so beautifully. We are blessed beyond measure.