Mother’s Day.  It brings me all the feels.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a mom.  I loved celebrating my mom and grandmother’s growing up.  I even attempted to convince my parents that I should get a present on Mother’s Day because I would be a mom one day.  I couldn’t wait!

And then I became a mom.  Technically, I became a step-mom.  I threw myself into that roll with reckless abandon.  I loved with my whole heart and did all of the mom things I could think of.  But at the end of the day my girls had a mom and that’s who they celebrated on Mother’s Day.  It made for a weird and somewhat sad Mother’s Day.

However, my sweet husband always celebrated me.  He always made sure to make the day special for me.  We would go out to eat or do something special.  On our sixth Mother’s Day together he gave me a Pandora charm that spelled out MOM and told me he wanted us to start the process to bring TJ home.

I now have 3 very special children that I love with my all that have, who were all born to a different mother.  Two call me by my first name and one calls me Mommy.  I am beyond thankful to the women that brought them into the world and for the parts I get to play in their life.  It’s because of this “different” view I have had of Mother’s Day, that I have started celebrating not just the mom’s in my life but other women that have had special roles in my life.    I loved celebrating my grandmother’s and I love celebrating my mom and mother-in-law.  I am so grateful for the way they have loved God and loved their family and the role models they have been to me.  However, I recognize that there are women in the world that are not mother’s in the biological, I gave birth to someone, sort of way, but have played very important roles in other’s lives.  And they deserve to be celebrated and recognized too.  I have decided that on Mother’s Day, I am going to not only celebrate the Mother’s in my life, but also the amazing women that have loved me and made a positive impact on my life.  For me consistently, that has been my Aunt.   At times in my life that could have been a mentor or a bible study leader or even a special teacher.

Mother’s Day can be weird or hard.  I know because I have felt it.  Your mother or child may have passed away.  Maybe motherhood hasn’t happened or doesn’t at all look the way you thought it would.  Maybe your mom, the one who gave birth to you, has not been a positive part of your life. Or maybe you are estranged from your children.  I don’t want to devalue the day because Mom’s are so important!  But I challenge you to view the day from a different lens.  Celebrate the women in your life that have made a positive impact,  that have loved you no matter what,  that have stepped in to be a mother to you at times when you needed it. Or, as I saw on Instagram today, celebrate the single women in your life that love your children.   Celebrate the neighbor that gives your child a sweet treat after school everyday.  Let those women know how important they are to you! I want to leave you with this quote:

Family isn’t always blood.  It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept  you for who you are.  The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.”

Happy Mother’s Day!