On this Mother's Day I wanted to share a personal story with you that recently touched my heart. A few weeks ago I had an "Insta-sale", which is basically an auction online where you put pictures of items that you are selling and allow people to bid on them. I did this sale to raise money for our adoption journey that is just beginning. All of the items in the auction were nice clothing items or purses. One purse in particular was brand new and I LOVED it! I really wanted to keep it! Although I loved the purse, I knew it would be a great addition to the auction so I auctioned it off. A friend of mine won the bidding on the purse and I was so excited for her. Fast forward a few weeks.

I happened to look out the window to see my friend (who had bought the purse) pulling up in front of our house. As she was walking to the door, I noticed she was carrying a big gift bag. "I have a Mother's Day gift for you" she said. It didn't take long for me to realize she was gifting the purse she had bought back to me!

And friends... can I just say *tears*, lots and lots of tears were falling. It was such a beautiful picture of gracious giving. She never even intended on keeping the purse. She knew all along what she was going to do. It was my Mother's Day gift.

She wrote me a sweet note and then included this beautiful piece she wrote that I wanted to share with you this Mother's Day.

Motherhood is a Mixed Bag

You never know what you're going to find inside when you are given the Bag of Motherhood.

Usually, motherhood means looking into faces that are a reflection of your own or that of your man. Sometimes it means gazing into a face whose shape and skin color and eyes are a reflection of someone you will never know. Always, it means staring into the face of Jesus.

Sometimes, this bag looks good on you! It goes perfectly with your clothing of compassion and kindness. Sometimes it clashes badly with garments of praise, and to be honest, you want to hang it in the closet and pick out a different purse. Sometimes, it seems that no one even notices this lovely accessory on your shoulder.

There are days when this bag is heavy with the weight of waiting. Waiting to be introduced. Waiting to be reunited. But most days, this bag is light with the joy of giggles and games and God-given blessings too wonderful to let anything weigh you down.

Some days, you reach in and find a tenderly picked a dandelion bouquet, a love note scrawled in purple crayon, a fancy necklace fashioned with Fruit Loops. Other days no matter how deep you dig, all you find are dirty dishes, soiled laundry and unmade beds.

There is a time when you look into the bag and find little hands cradling dollies and filling teacups and picking out party dresses. Then suddenly, her hands are holding a party cake that is decorated with the words: Congratulations! You did it!

For years, motherhood means mornings that find you tripping over Legos, afternoons that have you bandaging scrapes and bruises, evenings that require your presence at the baseball diamond. And then the time arrives when he slips a diamond on a young woman's hand.

At this point, you might be hopeful that you can now retire this bag and pick out a new one. Or, you may think it's going to be awful shopping for a new purse. Either way, you're wrong. Motherhood is a permanent accessory!

Yes, this bag is full of delight and struggle. It holds failures and successes. It spills out joy and pain. It's a mixed bag, but we eagerly accept the gift, knowing the marvelous truth is that it has two handles and every day, every season, we have One who takes His side and helps us carry it wherever we go.

Happy Mother's Day!