I met the rest of my family at church where dad delivered a beautiful and inspiring message on the mother nature of God. He shared about lessons he learned from his mother and how those lessons reflected Christ’s love and actions toward us. He challenged mothers to be windows into God’s heart for our children. I felt proud to be his daughter and proud to be a mother! I cried during church as we sang “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” and as the words described singing along with the fellowship of the saints! I have a daughter who is a saint and she is in the company of angels singing praises to Jesus…. Whoa! I feel proud to be her mother and grateful that she is safe in the arms of GOD.

We went to Jesse’s for Mother’s Day hotdogs with the Sloop crew: Kristen, Mike, Nana and Pop, Mom, Dad, Dave and Melissa…and all our kids. It has been our after church lunch spot for over 20 years. It is greasy and good and if you have ever come for a visit we have certainly taken you there! I felt exhausted and dizzy (mono effects) and was ready to go home and get in the bed praying the boys naps would coincide. Happy Mother’s Day to me…they were right in sync. Ben woke up however during the middle of an afternoon thunderstorm and so we took a precious nap together. My arms and my heart are so full!

My joy was overshadowed today by thoughts and prayers for my dear friend Alicia who was enduring the day with the absense of her baby boys Jacob and Caden who were stillborn 6 months ago. My heart was also heavy for Erica Carter, who I’m sure was feeling the grief of this day having lost her daughter Nati 9 months ago. This day of honor represents such joy and fulfillment for so many and such suffering and emptiness for so many more. John overheard me talking about Alicia and he said, “Oh no Mommy, what happened?” What happened, is a statement John makes about a hundred times a day. I explained that Miss Alicia was sad because she missed her babies very much that went to live with Jesus just like Anna. I asked him if he wanted to pray for her. He prayed, “Dear Jesus, Thank you for Alicia, thank you for babies, help sad.” Bitter-sweet is this precious day!

I thought a lot this weekend about the role of mothers in our lives and how overwhelmingy blessed I feel to have the mother and mother-in-law that I do. What beautiful, fun, loving women we have to take care of us and our kids!! So, thank you and I love you to my moms!

As all mothers of 2 year olds know, it is very difficult to get a picture of your child that works…eyes closed, head turned etc. Not to mention the tensions that rise when you try to control it too much… which is what I did. Then again, control of any kind sends John over the edge. I just really wanted a cute picture of me with my kids….didn’t happen. But here are some cute pics that do work!!!!