Once a mom, always a mom. If you are a woman, I don't have to tell you that. And as moms, we never stop loving, hoping, praying, worrying, fretting, bragging, laughing and crying. Nothing can ever change that. It wouldn't matter what my children did or didn't do, I could never love them less and will love them more each day.
I am 56 and I know my mom still worries about me as I do my children and they do theirs. That's just the way it goes. But I also know she loves, hopes, prays, brags, laughs and cries and I know my mothering children do as well. It's all a big package that encompasses almost everything we feel and think about.
I love these guys so much. Above is Hannah, now married to Thomas and both are students at BYU-Idaho. They are still enjoying the honeymoon and probably always will. Going clockwise is Aaron with his son Gideon. He is unquestionably the best dad I know and a really good man. He also has 3 other children: Makenna, Delta, and Sage. Below him is Emily, married to Jeffrey, and mother to Ella. Emily is a strong woman who has endured much and continues to smile. To her left is Roselie, married to Chris and mother to Riley, Madeline and Harry. She is an incredible woman as well and weathers stress with laughter.
In addition to these, I have stepchildren: Caitlin, Grant, Nathan, Tanner, and Grace and 45 foster children who were temporarily my children.
I just wanted to do a little of that maternal bragging, hoping, and praying with you today. I think I miss my children who are not near more than I realized. I want to reach out and grab them and hold them and tell the