Getting it Right on Mother's Day

If you want to know how to “Get It Right” on Mother’s Day. I have some very simple pieces of advice for you.

1.     Know who your mom isn’t.

2.     Know who your mom is.

3.     Make it more about her than you.

4.     Plan accordingly.

With all said, let’s start with a story, shall we?

Quite a few weeks ago, I went to Target in hopes of securing a Mother’s Day card before “all the good ones” were taken. (I assumed I had already purchased every Mother’s Day card Hallmark had to offer. #HallmarkPlatinumMember)

I wanted to get a really good card for her. Because she’s a really good mom. Every really good mom deserves a really good card. Right?

Well, yes. That, and I didn’t want to be interviewed on the evening news for why I was waiting until the last minute to thank the woman who gave birth to me. In fact, I remember watching the Jacksonville news one time a few years ago, and that happened. The news crew decided for some strange reason to interview people at the card aisles in Wal-mart and ask why they were waiting until the last minute to get cards. (News-worthy stories were obviously lacking that night. All must have been quiet on the Moncrief front. And we all know that Wal-mart breeds news-worthy action stories at any given time throughout the day.)  Anyway, that news story coverage has stayed with me all these years, and it has altered me in a few ways. One, I no longer watch the nightly news. I all of a sudden have better things to do. (Like blow-drying my hair.) Two, I no longer wait until the last minute to go card-shopping.

With all said, I assumed that going to Target a few weeks ago would give me an edge on the Mother’s Day card-collection-selection at Target. And it did. I found all sorts of cards. Seriously. All. Sorts. Of. Cards.

Some companies get pretty hilarious when it comes to thanking Moms. Some go all sentimental and sweet. :) Others just get kind of ridiculous. And ridiculous is kind of the theme I noticed this year with some of the Target Mother’s Day cards I found. You see, the reason they were ridiculous is this: a lot of them were aimed towards diva-moms.

The problem with this? My mom is not a diva. She’s very far from it, actually. My mom doesn’t wear makeup. She doesn’t wear showy jewelry on a regular basis. Or ever, really. She doesn’t sport around town in fancy-dancy clothing. She doesn’t drive a fancy car. She doesn’t wear high heels, unless someone’s getting married. She doesn’t make it a habit to make our house look like a magazine, entertain others, and/or hob-knob. She doesn’t do a whole long list of diva-mom stuff.

You want to know why? Because she’s not a diva-mom.

And you know what? That’s completely okay. (Side note: if your mom is a diva-mom, that’s completely okay too. Love her for who she is, for who God made her to be, and for who she’s shaped you to be.)

The wonderful thing about diva-moms is that they always seem so put-together, don’t they? They look beautiful in pictures.  But remember, pictures only capture a moment in time. Pictures are good for scrapbooks and magazines, yes. But life isn’t a scrapbook. Life isn’t a magazine either. Life is more like a cookbook. It’s complicated. It takes a lot of planning. A requires lot of ingredients, all fitting together at just the right moments. Sometimes, things get messy. Sometimes, things get gross. Sometimes, things don’t always turn out the way we planned, do they? Nope. And those are the exact times where Mom steps in.

     Diva-moms are like a snapshot of "beauty," yes. But my mom is pretty much the video reel of what a beautiful, loving woman/wife/mom looks like and is supposed to look like. She is beauty in action.

My mom knows who she is. And she knows who she isn’t.

She’s taught me to know who I am and know who I’m not.

She gives more than anyone I know. She actually probably gives too much!! (Mom, if you’re reading this, stop and go buy yourself something for a change.) 

Mom models the giving nature of Christ to me on a daily basis.

She serves more than anyone I know. Laundry. Lunches. Lost items. It matters not how old I get. Mom always seems to find a way to serve me.

     Now before you go thinking you want to trade moms, keep in mind my mom’s not perfect. Let’s be real: My mom frustrates me on some days. If you’re honest, yours does too. (I think that must be a pre-requisite skill to applying for Mommyhood.) But she “frustrates” me because she loves me. She says the things no one else will dare say to me. She does the things “only a mom can do,” etc. My mom may not be perfect, but she’s Godly. And she tries. And she cares. And she serves. And she gives. And she loves.

     Just recently, I recognized that having a mom who sometimes frustrates me is a great privilege. Sounds silly, right? But it’s not. It’s true. Some people don’t have their moms with them any longer. Some people have moms who don’t care or love them the way they should. Some people – even still - don’t even know who their moms are. If you have a mom or someone who has filled the place of a mom in your life, you should feel blessed beyond words.

     In case you happen to still be wondering, I did end up getting a card for my mom at Target. I had to find it in the very, very small not-a-diva-mom section at the back of the store. Just kidding. But I did find one.

     Also, I bought my mom a gift. My mom is one of the most difficult people in the world to shop for. And she's difficult to shop for because she typically finds out where I bought her stuff from, returns it, and takes the money to buy something for other people instead. I used to get frustrated by this; but this year, I’m encouraged. I recognize that no amount of material items I can purchase will quantify who my mom is and celebrate who she is and who she isn’t.

But I decided to buy her something small anyway.

This year, I bought her sandals. From Target. On sale.

On sale, because my momma raised me to look for deals and shop the sales.

At Target, because my mom is not a diva, but she’s still trendy in her own way.

Sandals, because she has wide feet and other shoes don’t always work out so well.

And shoes, because she’s a walking picture of the beauty of all that is implied by the word Motherhood.

One day, Momma, I hope to walk in shoes like yours. (And no, I don’t mean I want you to return the sandals I bought you, get the money, and try to get me some in my size instead. Just keep a gift for yourself already.) But what I do mean is this: I do hope to one day follow your example, walk in the footsteps you’ve laid out before me, and perhaps fill just a portion of the shoes you walk in. I love you, Momma. Thank you for being you.

With all said, I feel like I can get it right on Mother’s Day this year because I have a wonderful, Godly, beautiful Mom who’s gotten it right for days, weeks, months, and years on end. She makes it easy to recognize and celebrate that.

This year, you can get it right on Mother's Day too.

Reflect on these simply thoughts:

Who is your mom?

Who is she not?

And here's the big-kicker: How can you make it more about her than you tomorrow?

The Calm After the Storm: Trusting His Promises

Some say there's a calm before the storm.

For some, the calm is in the dead-middle of the storm (i.e. hurricanes #FloridaGirl).

For others still, the calm comes after the storm.

As of yesterday and early this morning, I'd categorize myself in the last of those three options. When you experience a calm after a storm, you can't really do anything else except to be thankful you're okay, praise God for His protection, and learn to trust in His promises a little more the next time.

I seem to be getting ahead of myself here, so let me back up and start here:

I know the promises of God.

I've read all of them.

Heard stories on them as a child.

No, I couldn't quite give you an exact number of promises recorded in the Bible. (Perhaps, that's something I should work on tallying up.) But I've heard them. And I know them (exact numbers and tally marks aside). Since I grew up in church, hearing the promises of God is just something I got used to. And probably, if you grew up in church as well, you did too.

While hearing the promises of God is an easy one to check off the list of our going-to-church-as-a-kid experiences, believing and actually trusting in the promises of God, however, is "a whole 'nother ball game." It's the stuff life is made of.

Recently, I ran across this quote from the Bible, which stated, "He who promised is faithful."This statement is great because it tells us a couple things about Him:

1. He, obviously referring to God/Jesus, has made some promises.

2. He. is. faithful. to. carry. out. His. promises.

The great (and sometimes not-so-great) thing about promises is this: they're dependent upon the character of the one who's making them. If a trustworthy person makes a promise, you've got yourself a deal as equivalently good and as true as an old man's handshake. If an untrustworthy person makes a promise, you've got a hope and a prayer they'll come through. But ultimately, you're probably just left with disappointment and a hot mess of feelings and thoughts aimed to answer the question, "How could you do this to me again?!?" (For some reason, the phrase, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" comes to mind.) So yeah, we should all probably make a pact to avoid buying into the promises of those kinds of people. I digress… but what I'm getting at is this: 

All in all, the sheer value of promises rest in the one who makes them.

In this case, the value of the promises in the Bible rest on the One who made them.

I typically believe God's promises, but yesterday was a close, close call. What you are about to see and read is what I've affectionately named #FloridaFlood2013. You'll soon see why.

The promise of God that so-readily came to my mind yesterday was the one He gave to Noah concerning the building of the Arc and the whole never-flooding-the-Earth-again deal.

No big deal, right? 

Answer #1. Right. 

The Earth will never be flooded all-at-once again. That's a promise. From a God. Who keeps His promises. So, yes, of course. That's never going to happen again. And yes, for sure, that's a comforting thing.

Answer #2: Errr, wrong.

When I looked out my window and saw this:

And this:

You want to know what the first thought that crossed my mind was? "God promised to never flood the whole Earth again. Wait. My neighborhood isn't the whole Earth. We're going dooooowwwn." 

As I continued to look out my window, I saw neighbors who were probably thinking the same crazy thoughts because some of them were doing some pretty crazy things. Some were outside driving in it, not realizing how deep and wide it really was out there. Some were in ga-loshes, working to fix the drain and help the whole problem disappear. Some apparently didn't get the memo that it was only Saturday, and they started baptizing each other in the new-found river. (Just kidding.) 

As I began to watch everything unfolding, I wanted to get on the crazy-bandwagon of the give-me-something-to-do-about-this rainy-day-parade. I began to think of ways I could help. I began to get my scuba gear in tact…. until I began to realize that I didn't have scuba gear. So, really, I just began to raid my closet for my Target rain boots. Those would definitely somehow come in handy at a time like this. They would come in handy, that is, if I had a real desire to actually get out there, get down and dirty, and do something serious about the flood. I didn't. Instead, I soon found myself choosing a whole different route altogether. Though I was thankful for those who were literally working in the trenches in the pouring-down rain to solve the problem, I simply sat inside and began to worry.

At this point, I must sadly admit that my mind reminded me of Kelly Minter, the writer of my current Bible study on Nehemiah, and the floods she talked about infiltrating her hometown of Nashville quite a few years ago. My mind decided to take a fast-forward hike to a scene of my dad, my sister, and me sitting on top of our roof waiting for helicopters to rescue us from the house on the street that used-to-be Rose Hill Drive South. I thought of all the childhood memories our house contained. I thought of all the junk I would miss, should it be flooded out. (Yes, I'm being very serious here.)

I prayed. Asked God to protect me, my house, my family, my neighbors. But I was still anxious for some reason. I had nervous energy I simply couldn't explain away. Perhaps, scenes and images like this had something to do with it.

I looked up an online hour-by-hour forecast of the rain and realized there was no storm-stopping-point in sight for several hours. It continued off and on all throughout the night, actually.

I went to bed slightly concerned and slightly comforted, if that makes any sense. I may or may not have slept with a beach towel over me instead of a bed comforter. When my mom came into my room and asked what was going on, I explained I wanted to be prepared in case the floods continued to rise. She simply said she didn't know what she was going to do with me. haha.

But, with all the flooded-craziness fading into yesterday, do you know what happened when I awoke this morning? I saw dry land. I felt sunshine. I heard birds chirping. I saw cars driving seamlessly down the once-canaled road. I sensed calmness. I felt peace. I remembered God. And I began to rest in His promises.

I remembered His goodness. I remembered His grace. 

I re-realized His love for the world in the times of Noah and His continuous love for the world in the times of Rosemary. :) 

I began to revel in His overwhelming desire to give this thing called the human race a second chance. and a third. and a fourth. and…. you get the idea….

He'll never flood the Earth again. He promised. The value of His promises rest in Who He is.

He is trustworthy.

He is worthy of all our praises. and. so. much. more.

I'm glad He's chosen to promise to never flood the Earth again. I'm also thankful that He used a flood on Rose Hill Drive to capture my attention of the value of His promises once again.

I wonder, what promise of God do you need to refresh in your heart, mind, soul, and life today? Hopefully, it won't take a flood or some other extreme "act of God" to get you back on track.

Maybe today, you need to take off the beach towel of your own worries, laugh at how silly and ridiculous worrying makes you look, wake up to Who He is, and experience the peace and the calmness that He alone can bring to your life.

Take off your Target rain boots and reliance on self-work.
Stop hiking through the what-if's and other made-up scenarios of life. 
Stop wondering about all the junk you could lose.
And choose to simply rest in what He says is true. 
Trust His promises. 
Trust His character. 
Trust Who He is.

Trust. Him. More. #FloridaFlood2013