There are so many roles that we embody throughout our lifetimes.  Names, labels, monikers, and titles that tell people who we are.  Most are temporary terms such as “new driver,”  “student,”  “new hire,” etc.  Even our jobs will one day fade away and we will no longer hold those titles that, perhaps, at one point made us feel important and successful.   

For over a decade, I was in the bridal industry and carried around my business cards with me, which had the title “Bridal Consultant” printed on them.  It was a fun career that I still cherish in my mind today.  I met the most wonderful women that I had the privilege to work with, and clients that I got to assist during a very special time in their lives.  However, I am no longer a Bridal Consultant and those business cards are long gone.  I left that field of practice after ten and a half years when my husband and I decided to have children.  We both felt that it was important that I be a stay-at-home-mom to care for my husband, children, and our home.  So, I put away the blazers and high heels in exchange for sneakers and leggings, and haven’t looked back. 

As I age and those titles soon drift away (former member of our church’s Women’s Advisory Council, previous Vice-President of our school’s PSO board, past Bible study leader, etc.) there is one title, however, that will always be attached to my name and that is “Mother.”  For the rest of my life I will be someone’s mom.  On the family tree hundreds of years from now, my name will still be in its rightful place.  The name I cherish the most.  The title that holds for me the most joy and importance.  What I feel has been my greatest accomplishment and success is being a mom.  No one can ever take that away from me.  I can’t be fired from this job.  I can’t be demoted.  I may not always do it perfectly, but I will still be a mother.  The best name in the world, Mom, is mine.  My kids are mine and I am theirs.  We will forever have this bond by blood and by this gift that God has given us.   

Some people define success by how much money they make or the size of house they own or the expensive car they drive.  I define success by family.  Are my kids kind and respectful?  Are they good people with big hearts who help others?  Are they hard workers who love God and follow His precepts?  Are they happy?  Do we like to be together as a family and laugh and have special traditions that we treasure?  Am I the happiest when we are all together in our home and safe?  When my kids hug me and tell me they love me?  It is all of those things.  But, most assuredly, when they smile at me and I hear them call to me “Mom” is what I love the most.  What causes my heart to burst.  What puts the rose in my cheeks.  What makes my spirit soar.  There is nothing more beautiful, more sacred, more precious, more endearing or more loving than that.  The title of Mother lasts a lifetime and beyond.  When I am long gone, I will still be someone’s mother, and I am most proud, humbled, and grateful for that.