are you building walls or bridges?

My heart always opens a little bit to each mom I cross a path with. I don't know why for sure, but I am attracted to mom's. (and NO, not in a weird way!!) May be why I wanted to start this blog? Stay home mom's, working mom's, single mom's, poorest of poor mom's, step-mom's, old mom's, young mom's, want-to-be mom's. All of them. When I meet someone and they tell me they are a mom, my defense mechanism to not show too much of myself to them goes down and I instantly have my heart opened to them. I like to connect to people in this world and when I meet a mom I always find that common ground with them. I think it has a lot to do with the reality that they play such a huge role in our culture, our communities, our families, and our world. I know the pull and stretch that mom's go through daily to carry out their God given task as mothering. It is no easy trip, but well worth the extra driving it takes to do it!

As I write today I can not ignore the wall that stands between so many mom's. So often mom's are forced to decide... what kind of mom do I WANT to be? Do I HAVE to be? Do I NEED to be? This is not a bad choice and one that needs to be made. However, I think many mom's carry with them the baggage of not feeling like a real mom or a good enough mom if they don't do A,B, and C. I feel like as I talk with mom's that so often they would have made different choices if they didn't feel the pressure of the A, B, and C's in their life. A, B, and C is different to each mom too. For some it is "if I don't stay home, cook all organic meals & snacks, and breastfeed until my kids are 2 then I'm not 'mom enough" For others it is... "if I don't juggle a full time career, climb the corporate ladder, and have a hot dinner on the table by 6 every night then I am not a real mom." For some it is... "if I don't find a way to feed my kids other then with food stamps, buy my own home, and quit accepting government housing then I'm not good enough to be a mom."

All mom's have something that weighs over them while they live out the choices they made in the mothering department. If there was ever a place to build bridges with people it is with our fellow mother's. We will each do things differently. We will each choose differently. Nobody truly knows the situation, circumstances, or heart of the other mom's we are often times looking at. Instead of putting up walls and looking down on those doing life different then you in the mom department, let's build bridges. Building bridges empowers us to be better ourselves. Building bridges makes our children stronger too. Building bridges may even let you (and me) really look at what God wants us to do as mother's and not what we think we are supposed to do according to the pressures we feel from different areas in our life. When we are living the life that God desires for us I believe we find contentment, peace, and joy. When we can choose the way we want to mother our children through God's desires for us individually and not our world's standards, I believe we can start to be better bridge builders and better mom's.

As Mother's Day approaches I hope we can celebrate every type of mom... Stay home mom's, working mom's, single mom's, poorest of poor mom's, step-mom's, old mom's, young mom's, want-to-be mom's. Yup, all of them. We have a big job ladies. Let's tear down walls and cheer on one another. Start your bridge building this week as we get ready to honor all mom's in this world on Mother's Day!