Looking Back by Mimi McClure

Happy Mothers Day! Oh my!

What a great day to look back and reflect. To reflect on the privilege it has been for me to be a mother. I am a 60-year-old lady, with a husband whom I love dearly, 3 magnificent children, 3 precious married-in children, and 4 literally edible grandchildren.

 

You have to pinch me sometimes because I still cannot believe that God gave this all to me. At the lake we have big picture windows that I love to sit by and stare out at the beauty God created. Our house is so high up that we are literally in the trees. Yes, there is water way down below, but the trees.. oh how I love my trees!

Trees have always been just delightful to me for many reasons. Most importantly, trees have been a picture of what God is to me. As crazy as that sounds it is true! Let me explain.

The trees that I adore are large and strong and sturdy. They have solid arms and have beautiful leaves, which protectively give shade, glorious shade! These trees even provide a nutty sustenance for many little creatures and make a heavenly spot for birds and squirrels to build their home – a nest.

As I sit in my comfy chair and reflect on this adventure called life and motherhood, I know two things for sure that I would love to share with you.

One is to live life fully as a mom,

you should climb up into the everlasting arms of our Savior God and rest in Him.

The second thought is BUILDING YOUR NEST.

I believe building your nest within His boughs is the way to go. I have seen many nests in many trees and love their beauty. In fact, I retrieved one nest when its owners had vacated and I placed it carefully in my nature center so I could teach my grandchildren about birds.

 

It just amazes me how a little bird could build something so complicated.

As I think back to those nest-building years, I must tell you I did remember how hard it was. It takes a lot of work and labor and truthfully is a very scary thing to do. During the building of your nest, I will warn you that you might just tell yourself:

 “I am not cut out for this job “

 or

 “ I will mess things up“

but keep reading.

Watching the birds at the lake bring their twigs, moss, and feathers made me realize that every nest is truly a work of love and a work of art. The nests we mothers build are also ONE OF A KIND. All are quite different. That’s because we gather our supplies from different sources. We do the best we can with what we’ve got or with what we have been given. We use things from our own childhood, (whether that’s good or bad) from our own circumstances, and from our own personalities.

In contemplating this, I hope it makes you realize that your nest should be and will be different than others.

I hope you never compare yourself to others unless it’s to correct a few obvious wrongs. God has made you special and He can use anything for His purposes and for your and your child’s best interest.

You know life in the nest isn’t going to be perfect either no matter how hard you try. No matter how many books you have read. There will be all sorts of struggles, during every age and every season.  Who knows, one day, God may just have to reach out and catch that young bird of yours when your “stupidity” (as I always blamed myself) or their own choices cause them to fall out of the nest.

 He caught mine a time or two and He will catch yours too. On your watch, there will be many hurts. We all hurt and get hurt crowded together, but He can cover our wounds with ointments of love. Love does cover a multitude of sins and if you make any mistakes try to err on the side of absolute love.

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Speaking of love … God is the ultimate picture of love. Giving His only son for me to live. Covering my sin. Breathing new life into me. He has shown me in every way possible through His words and His deeds what a great relationship looks like and what true fellowship can be. To run to him because He is light and love and because I have no fear of Him is exactly what I want and wanted my children to have with me.

I will leave you with the sure footing I wanted my kids to have etched in their soul before they stepped up on the edge and flew out of the nest.

MY CHILD KNOW THIS:

May you know that you are beautifully and wonderfully made by God

 and He loves you unconditionally.

May you know that the day God gave you to me,

 it was as if He handed me the greatest treasure on earth .

May you know that I love you dearly and

I cherish every moment we have together.

May you know without a shadow of a doubt that you light up my world

 and I accept you just the way you are.

May you know that I believe in you and want to forever encourage you

 and lift you way up high … yes to touch the sky.

May you know that I will nourish you, teach you and fight for you if need be.

May you know you can talk about anything and you will be heard.

Your dreams and your thoughts are valued.

May you know that you are forgiven when you’ve done wrong and I pray you know that no matter what, you can come home and if you don’t and you are in trouble I won’t rest until I find you.

And one last thing.

When you grow up I promise to let go … so you can fly… HIGH!

Love Mom

(Courtney added PDF of ”MY CHILD KNOW THIS”

because she wanted it and you are welcome to print and use too!)

So moms who might be reading this, I pray that in this looking back you can see the Big Picture through my panes of glass.

Blessings to you all.

Whoah Mother Dearest.  Tears. I can say that every single statement in “my child know this’ is true. I believe those things about my mother and have experienced each of them. What safety, security and unconditional love that provided me my whole life. Thank you for your lifelong pursuit to be a mom who loved her kids so well. Your time was oh so well spent. I pray I’ll be half the mom to my girls.

Thank you for letting us FLY HIGH or Orlando recently and NEVER giving us a guilt trip. We know how this caused all pain and you have been so supportive.

Oh, how we LOVE being with you in person on this Mother’s Day!

I adore you Mother Dearest.