Sometimes Mother's Day is hard

Someone came up with a bunch of holidays a long time ago.  And that is great, except, that I think sometimes those "holidays" put pressure on people.

Don't get me wrong.  I had a great Mother's Day weekend.   I really enjoyed my children all weekend.  And am reminded constantly how blessed I am to have three beautiful, smart, amazing kids.

But this is the second mother's day that we were not with my mom or Lee's mom.  And that is a little sad.  But I know they are both very supportive of us being here in Belize and wouldn't want us anywhere outside of God's will.

Mother's Day can be very hard though.  Yesterday, in church, Lee had women share about their amazing mothers.  There were lots of tears, as everyone who shared, was not spending Mother's Day with their mom for one reason or the other.  I could not have shared because I was too choked up from everyone else sharing.  

Mother's Day is painful if you want a child and cannot have one.  It is painful if your mother has passed away or you have a strained relationship with your mother.

It is hard if you are a young mom in the midst of raising those babies.  For Mother's Day is a hard working day, just like every other.

We went to a nice restaurant after lunch.  It was crowded.  They had a the steel band playing, which was nice, although a little loud for conversation.  We helped juggled a friends' babies and enjoyed the fellowship of good friends.

But even at lunch, someone's Mothers Day became hard.  We were about to pay and our first waitress was brought up in  a police car...she had been hurt in a car accident and all the employees ran outside.  It was very intense, sad few moments.  The blessing is that Lee and I were able to pray with her sister, who was upset, after the police left.  But for that restaurant, there was sadness for sure yesterday...and we felt it.

Last night, we watched home videos of when Josh and Tori were babies.  That is always fun for me.  It makes me miss them being babies...it looks like it was so easy back then.  But I know that is not how I felt in those years.  I remember I was always busy, always worn out.  Yet, so thankful for their lives.

So, now, I have had 16 mother's day where I was a mother.  I really feel that I don't need a lot of hype.  I just don't want to cook that day and just want to relax maybe just a little that day.  And yesterday, those things happened.

But my heart was especially pulled yesterday for those that Mother's Day is hard.  In an effort to honor Mothers, which is so important, to be sensitive to those who are sad is important too.

Here are a few shots of our day:)

And in three days, I have a very special friend coming.  I am sure that we will take lots of pictures, but I am looking forward to hanging out and relaxing while she is here.  And praying for good weather. The rainy season is slowly coming early this year...and I am so thankful for that...