This letter is for the not-so-perfect moms on this Mother’s Day.
You know who you are. The ones who let their child keep a paci for way too long, because for the love of silence. To the mom who can’t keep plants or flowers alive. And the mom who maybe forgets important things sometimes, this is for you.
Many a Mother’s day have passed which I got my mom no gift or even a card. Often, I didn’t even realize it until the day of. Mother’s day can be hard to remember when your caught up in high school drama, college finals or the grind of a day job. But now that I’m a mom, I’m more attuned to Mother’s day. I know its coming weeks in advance and I remember to get my mom a gift.
But this particular Mother’s day, I found the perfect gift.
I spotted it on a friend’s Insta-story and it reminded me that this was the gift I had wanted to get my mom for a long time. It was a 4 things tote bag from The Shop Forward, a company that makes great products and gives some of its profits to benefit orphans and healthcare for women in Africa. The four things tote is a simple tote bag in which you can customize four words that best describe whom ever it is going to. It took me no time to pick four words for my mom: grandkids, homemade pies, piyo and coupon-ing. I had nailed the very essence of her and with that the tote was ordered.
Later that night, I bragged to my husband about how I had ordered the best gift.
“But didn’t you already get her one of those?” He questioned.
Silly husbands. Sometimes they just say the darndest things.
But, then again.
Was it possible that I had already ordered her a 4 things tote?
I couldn’t remember.
And frankly, it didn’t matter. With all the Coronavirus stuff going on, our household has been in survival mode. While my husband does his day job from our kitchen table, I desperately try to entertain our 3 year-old so he is not a distraction. Then when the three-year old finally naps, I desperately try to accomplish anything I can for my day job. Even sending a few emails count as a win these days. Sometimes our house gets picked up, but most days you can find stale pop corn kernels and pieces of pretzels spread about the living room rug.
Finally, one day it donned on me that I could verify if this whole gift issue.
Its year 2020, for pete’s sake. I pulled up my email and did a quick search, “The Shop Forward.” And within seconds my lingering question was answered. A receipt for a 4 Things Tote bag purchased in 2019, with 3 of 4 things listed exactly the same as the bag I had just purchased.
Unfortunately, at this point the bag was already in the works and would soon be shipped to my mom, so there was no going back. Why couldn’t I just get even this one small thing right? And how I had forgotten after just a year, that I had already bought one of these?
Yesterday, my mom called to thank me for the cute tote bag.
“I’m sorry mom,” I said. “I didn’t realize at all that I bought you the same thing as last year.”
“Oh, you did?” She asked, surprised. “I thought this looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember if I had one or if it was just something I wanted. Well, I’m glad you got me another one, because I don’t know where the first one is.”
And in that moment, I realized a few important things:
- Forgetfulness is obviously genetic
- God’s grace is sufficient for our weaknesses, in the big things and the small. It felt as if in that moment God leaned over and whispered, you’re doing great!
So to you, dear imperfect mom, I want to share the same message.
If you mess up, forget something important, lose your phone or keys (again), its OK. Hey, it may even work in your favor.
God sees all the love you give. He sees you emptying the dishwasher and folding the clothes. You’re completely exhausted and he knows that too. But if you will keep seeking him, even imperfectly, he will keep reminding you:
His grace is sufficient for your weakness.
Until next time,
Cheers!
P.S. If you like this post you may also like Motherhood is Full of Cold Coffee and Mama’s you don’t have to have it all together. Also you can get my top 4 new mama posts at the link below!