Happy Mother's Day!

I can still remember the smell of stepping barefoot into the grass, still wet and cold from last night's sprinklers. Before my mom woke up on Sunday morning my sisters and I would sneak out to collect the dogwood, lilac, tulips and peonies from around our beautiful, 100 year old, brick house to put in bud vases on the table for Mother's Day breakfast. We would pull out the nice, linen napkins and table cloth and gold rimmed dishes from our Granny Rice. One year, my older sister sugared violets and orange rind as an especially pretty (but not that tasty) edible centerpiece. Those mornings of creating something beautiful with my sisters for our mom are some of my happiest memories. And looking back as a mom myself now, I can see that we were creating a lot of extra laundry and mess on those carefully orchestrated mornings. I'm pretty sure I didn't wash all those linen napkins. My mom, in letting us do this, was actually giving us a gift. All through my childhood, she was amazing at giving us the freedom to create and decorate her house for holidays and parties. That really instilled a love of making beautiful homes and spaces for me and all my sisters. My mom is really responsible for that love, just one more thing that she gave to us. Thank you Mom, a million times over.

You often never know how your generosity as a mom is impacting your kids until later. Take that to heart and know they are growing and loving life because of the good gifts you offer to them everyday.

More Mother's Day encouragement for you at this podcast I recorded last night with a good friend who is speaking out in love and truth to strengthen and enrich our lives. Thank you Lou!