These may not look like very special photos to you, but they are so, so special to me. Just over a year ago I became a mama to the biggest, sweetest, cuddliest baby boy, Maxwell. And over the last 12 months my life has been slowly changing and evolving and shaping me into the woman I am today, right this moment as I type this post. My days are no longer filled with endless sewing and product dreaming — although that was an incredibly fun season (almost 6 years long!).
Now, my days are more often filled with cooking healthier foods and washing hands practically every hour. When we’re out on our daily walks my eyes catch the beauty, there’s so much beauty around us, for all of us to experience. I enjoy praying for my family more (Psalms 119:105 is very encouraging). I am encouraged and warmed by every piece of mail we receive from family & friends, and display it proudly in our home. Who cares that there are cards connecting Christmas to Valentine’s Day to Zack’s birthday to Maxwell’s birthday? I don’t care, and in fact — the wall in our kitchen where the cards are taped makes me smile every day. Seriously. And crayons, I can’t forget about the crayons. Maxwell is just starting to get the hang of how to hold them. Although many are broken and have little bite marks (Bauer? Maxwell? don’t make me check your teeth). And just the other day I saw a little streak of crayon color on our couch. Such is life… marked by the people in our lives who mean so much to us.
I’m so inspired by our firstborn. How he laughs so easily and giggles & shrieks when I walk in his room after naptime. I’m challenged every day to be the best mama, and not just the best… but the best …for Maggie. I have my imperfections and moments where I feel like I’m unraveling. But I have more moments where being a mom is so incredibly easy. Ahhh. My heart is just so full.
I may not have those same long days of stitching with my Kenmore, but I’m no less blessed. I’m being stitched together in brand new ways, every single day. What a huge heart change this has been for me to accept this new phase of life with such open hands.
My life looks different than it was a year ago — it’s filled with the shaping of many lives, and that is enough.
Beautiful…motherhood changes us in so many ways. :)
Motherhood changes us FOREVER doesn’t it! Beautiful friend!
Love, Traci Michele
Just beautiful Maggie! Being a mom is life changing and makes life better more often then harder. There’s just nothing sweeter.
Oh I just love reading your thoughts and the ways you’ve let motherhood shape your heart – it’s so tempting for me at times to want to grab hold of the expectations I have for my days and not move freely through that grace and the gifts of this season of young motherhood! Such a perfect reminder Maggie and you sure are the sweetest mama!
@Rebekah, Thanks for your comment Rebekah :) I think it’s so important to throw out most of the expectations — ones we guiltily put on ourselves and ones others put on us — and just focus on being who we are with the gifts we’ve been given and the family around us to love and nourish :) xoxo
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Yes, I’m there with you! This mommyhood thing is so beautiful and so hard. In the unraveling moments, I have to remember the true beauty of it all, that God has placed these little human beings in my life for a reason, that His plans for us are good and true, and that this life really is a blessed one!