Mothers' Day
I finally got around to updating our blog last week and, as those who read it hopefully figured out, it was quite the marathon writing session! It took me over an hour and a half to write the 2,900-plus post!
I told Gretchen that I wanted to start updating our blog at least once a week on Sunday mornings. We have church in the afternoon this year, so it means we have a lot of time in the morning to prepare and plan and spend time together. (Somehow this doesn't seem to work when we have church in the morning or in the middle of the other two congregations with which we share our building.)
The funny thing is that I am not at all opposed to blogging. As many of you probably (hopefully) know, I blog every day about my adventures in teaching fourth grade. (If you didn't know, the blog is at http://teachingfourth.wordpress.com. It is updated every day I have work, and occasionally on weekends or holidays if I have something to write about.) But for some reason, Gretch and I just got out of the habit of updating here. So here we go: I am finally getting back into the habit of updating regularly.
Today is Mothers' Day in the United States of America (and probably other countries). Some people, including the woman who came up with the holiday, think the name of the holiday should be written as Mother's Day to give special attention to your own mother, but I prefer to think of it as a plural possessive holiday--a day for all mothers all over the world. After all, we may only have one biological mother, but many of us have several mother-figures in our lives.
My own mother is a wonderful woman who encouraged each of her eight children to pursue their dreams and do their very best. She also knew when to push and when to let us go out on our own. One of my older brothers sent her a card about wanting to run away, but thanking her for never doing it. (And believe me, with six boys, I am sure she felt like running for the hills many times!) Then he included a note that said, "And thanks for giving me a suitcase each time I said I wanted to run away." (Or something like that.) My mum was and still is like that. She knows just how to respond and how to use laughter in any situation.
I have had many fantastic conversations with the woman who carried me in her womb, then in her arms, and then allowed me to walk on my own. Just this past weekend we spent a couple of hours sitting on the couch, talking about education, jobs, the economy, family stories (which I famously mess up and embellish in an effort to get my parents and siblings to record the stories accurately), and television shows. My mum is the best possible mum in the world for me!
I also have other mums, though. My mother-in-law, who let me marry her daughter, eat her food, and even live in her house for several weeks after Gretch and I found ourselves homeless a couple of summers ago. Mama Shep, from church, who adopted a bunch of us young single adults in the area and made sure we were fed properly and had a place to watch excellent movies, like Tangled. She also helped me find fabric for the Snoopy pillow cases I wanted to make for Gretch and then made them, too. Jennifer, who took me in when I went to Australia for a semester and showed up at church and said, "Hi, my name is Alex. I am from the States, I'm here for a semester, and I need a place to live. Anyone know of anyone with a place?" And, of course, I can't forget about Laurie's mom, Chuck's mom, Kramer's mom, Adam's mom, Noah's mom, Tasha's mom, Colleen's mom, Carl's mom, and all of the other mothers who have been there for me and helped me stay on the right path.
So today I don't honour just my biological mother; I honour all of the women who have been mothers for me throughout the years! Happy Mothers' Day!
I told Gretchen that I wanted to start updating our blog at least once a week on Sunday mornings. We have church in the afternoon this year, so it means we have a lot of time in the morning to prepare and plan and spend time together. (Somehow this doesn't seem to work when we have church in the morning or in the middle of the other two congregations with which we share our building.)
The funny thing is that I am not at all opposed to blogging. As many of you probably (hopefully) know, I blog every day about my adventures in teaching fourth grade. (If you didn't know, the blog is at http://teachingfourth.wordpress.com. It is updated every day I have work, and occasionally on weekends or holidays if I have something to write about.) But for some reason, Gretch and I just got out of the habit of updating here. So here we go: I am finally getting back into the habit of updating regularly.
Today is Mothers' Day in the United States of America (and probably other countries). Some people, including the woman who came up with the holiday, think the name of the holiday should be written as Mother's Day to give special attention to your own mother, but I prefer to think of it as a plural possessive holiday--a day for all mothers all over the world. After all, we may only have one biological mother, but many of us have several mother-figures in our lives.
My own mother is a wonderful woman who encouraged each of her eight children to pursue their dreams and do their very best. She also knew when to push and when to let us go out on our own. One of my older brothers sent her a card about wanting to run away, but thanking her for never doing it. (And believe me, with six boys, I am sure she felt like running for the hills many times!) Then he included a note that said, "And thanks for giving me a suitcase each time I said I wanted to run away." (Or something like that.) My mum was and still is like that. She knows just how to respond and how to use laughter in any situation.
I have had many fantastic conversations with the woman who carried me in her womb, then in her arms, and then allowed me to walk on my own. Just this past weekend we spent a couple of hours sitting on the couch, talking about education, jobs, the economy, family stories (which I famously mess up and embellish in an effort to get my parents and siblings to record the stories accurately), and television shows. My mum is the best possible mum in the world for me!
I also have other mums, though. My mother-in-law, who let me marry her daughter, eat her food, and even live in her house for several weeks after Gretch and I found ourselves homeless a couple of summers ago. Mama Shep, from church, who adopted a bunch of us young single adults in the area and made sure we were fed properly and had a place to watch excellent movies, like Tangled. She also helped me find fabric for the Snoopy pillow cases I wanted to make for Gretch and then made them, too. Jennifer, who took me in when I went to Australia for a semester and showed up at church and said, "Hi, my name is Alex. I am from the States, I'm here for a semester, and I need a place to live. Anyone know of anyone with a place?" And, of course, I can't forget about Laurie's mom, Chuck's mom, Kramer's mom, Adam's mom, Noah's mom, Tasha's mom, Colleen's mom, Carl's mom, and all of the other mothers who have been there for me and helped me stay on the right path.
So today I don't honour just my biological mother; I honour all of the women who have been mothers for me throughout the years! Happy Mothers' Day!
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