Motherhood Series: A Four Generational Look at Motherhood

Week Four: ‘The Joy of Being A Mother To A Mother’

The Celebration of Motherhood is right around the corner. In less than one week from now we will celebrate MOTHER’S DAY! For almost 29 years now I have celebrated being a Mom with the two very special Moms in my life, my grandmother Lela, and my mom Linda. I loved being in their “club;” rejoicing with them, crying alongside them, and pulling my hair out asking them to help me regain my dignity. Yet, as wonderful as that time was, NOTHING has been as SPECTACULAR as the last four years have been!

On April 10, 2012, I was asked to do something that I have never been asked to do before. My daughter, with the permission of her husband, asked me to be in the delivery room with her as she gave birth to her first child!

I was truly honored and privileged by both my daughter and my son-in-law, for asking me to take part in such a miracle!  It was truly a gift they were giving me, and I had no idea how big and how special that gift was until the first moment I saw her face! My beautiful Camdyn Kaylyn! She was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. Her eyes were as blue as the northern sky, her cheeks were porcelain and perfect, and her lips looked like rosebuds! If you think that this Grammie is just exaggerating, you can ask any nurse on the floor in that hospital. They could not get over her, and neither could I! Her disposition matched her beauty. She was happy, content, and peaceful. She loved being held and cuddled-didn’t squirm or become anxious-she just seemed to love the life God had given her! And my life was changed from that moment on! Yes, it was changed in part by this beautiful little girl that would add to the generation of our legacy and become the fifth woman in line. But it was so much more than that, that changed my life forever. It was becoming a mother to a mother.

I’ve never read a book on that, never sang a song written about that, never read a poem about that or saw a print hanging on a wall celebrating that, yet it was, and is my greatest joy as a mother!

My beautiful baby girl, Christina Nicole, was my first born. She came into this world on May 22, 1987. She was beautiful just like her baby girl, and they looked a lot alike. Christina had brilliant blue eyes. In fact, after her birth my mom said, “You should change her name to Crystal, I have never seen such clear blue eyes!”

She had the same porcelain skin, and rose bud lips! Although they looked almost identical, my girl was born with a very different personality! She was bright-no let me change that-she was and is brilliant! From a very early age I knew she was smarter than I was. I just had to not let her know I knew that until she was ready to use the incredible intellect, the bright and brilliant character, and the generous, loving heart that God had given her!

If you think that I am exaggerating, if you think that these are just words from a proud mama, let me tell you a true story. My mother and mother-in-law came to the hospital the day Christina was born. Due to my “strong-willed daughter”, deciding to do a complete 90° flip inside of me the week before she was born, and turn bottom breech, they decided to schedule her arrival into this world with a C-Section. Therefore my mom could not be in the delivery room, but my mom and mother-in-law were anxiously waiting to view the little cherub as soon as they rolled her out from delivery! They both were aghast when they witnessed her roll to the side and grab the sides of her little plastic roll bed. One of them yelled, “Watch out, you are going to lose her!” The doctor had come into my room warning me, that due to my baby being born C-section, she would be more on the lethargic side. If that girl was lethargic, PRAISE GOD she was a C-section baby! This was a tell-talk sign of things to come. I spent the next 13 years making sure I “watched out, so that I wouldn’t lose her!” I was always trying to stay one step ahead of my beautiful, smart, spirited girl!

Then it happened. Something wonderful clicked, and we became best friends! It was the end of her eighth-grade year, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Something clicked in those beautiful crystal blue eyes, and connected in that gorgeous, brilliant brain of hers! She realized the love of a mother! Instead of seeing my boundaries for her as barriers to her will, she saw them as love and protection. The love of a mother, who wanted only the best for her.  Something happened from that point on that set her on a course to become the greatest mother I have ever seen!

The joy of becoming a mother to a mother is inexplicable! My daughter is the best mama I have ever witnessed! Even before her babies were placed in her arms, she began preparing. She never took the gift of motherhood for granted. She gave all the glory to her God, and then lived out her gratitude through her diligence, her commitment, her preparation, her hard work, her kind heart, her discipline, and her boundless love for her children!

She thought of every detail ahead of time, details I would’ve never thought of.  She read every book, prepared not only their outward world, but their inward world as well, with her mother’s heart! From the moment they were placed into her arms, she held them with love, strength, and confidence! This oozed over to her children and has created a secure, confidence in both of them. I watched as she created a kind, loving, secure, and safe environment for her beautiful baby girl. I never saw her panic, even when situations arose. But I did see her pray to her God, cling to her husband, and trust that God would give them all of the right answers. I witnessed as she modeled a Christ-like example of being a wife for her tiny baby girl. She showed respect in asking him, including him, and loving him, as God had called her to do. I witnessed as she embraced his dreams, and joined in them with him, as she took hold of his hand, safe and secure that God was leading them as they packed up their house with a one year old, and moved to a brand new city to pursue a ministry they had been called to. I watched her join in that ministry with him wholeheartedly! Taking packed meals for her little girl as they both joined daddy at his youth group events.

I witnessed as she had her second child, who was double the size of the first! A beautiful boy, who came out with zest and zeal for life, much like his mommy did! Within 24 hours of his birth, he was taken from her loving arms and put into the NICU care unit. I saw firsthand that she leaned on her God in one of her most trying and dark hours! She never doubted His strength and power to heal her son, and she stood beside her baby boy and her husband the entire 9 days in the NICU! God answered her prayers, all of our prayers, and healed that baby boy! I then watched as she became a mother of two. Two very different children, with two very different personalities! I have watched her navigate and find her way through disciplining, loving, and mothering two different children. I have never seen anyone do it any better. She seeks God with all of her heart, trusts in Him completely, and relays on Him to be her strength and her true source of wisdom. I am proud of not only the mother that she is, but the wife that she is and the servant of God that she is. I know that her children will truly rise up and call her blessed, because she has put God first, her husband second, and her children next!

“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her.” – Proverbs 31:28

Where does she fall into the lineup, you ask? Dead last! She is the most sacrificial, loving, giving, mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter,…I am so proud of her and so happy to call her not just my daughter, but my very best friend! She is my treasure, my priceless jewel beyond compare, and a mother like none other. She has given me a great gift in my two grandchildren! But the greatest gift of all is the gift she has given me to be a part of her life and theirs!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, CHRISTINA NICOLE! You are a beautiful example of a loving, giving, sacrificial Mom!

I love you with my whole heart, FOREVER AND EVER!

Truth Bomb:

It is an inexplicable joy to be a Mother to a Mother!

As we bring this mothers series to an end, I want to wish all of the mothers out there a very happy and blessed Mother’s Day! You all deserve a day to be honored and blessed! No matter what kind of an example of a Mother that you had, or how you feel that you have succeeded or failed at being a mom, ALWAYS REMEMBER, God is Father to the Fatherless, A perfect parent to us all. May this day be a reminder of His love for you!

“A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God, in His holy dwelling.” – Psalm 68:5

Happy Mother’s Day!

Speak Truth Love