Counting on: Where I continue beyond 1000 Gifts & 18 years

Yesterday was Mother's Day (but really, isn't every day Mother's day?)

When we remember to Drink It In Slow, to Breathe Out Thanks, and to Count Gifts -to look for blessings, & stay grateful- throughout our days, every day holds within its' hours a Chance to Celebrate, and to Be Celebrated; an Opportunity to Honor, and to Be Honored; a Choice to Love, and to Be Love(d)!

 

In one full weekend, our Only turned from Baby Girl, to Nearly Grown Girlie, to All Growed Up!  18 and counting, and my how she can catch my breath and leave me slack-jawed and amazed!  Amazed by Grace; Undone by Love. 

How He shines through her - in the midst of good times, and in the darkest of hours. My how she shines, because - really - didn't Emily Freeman just say it best: "Her light comes from Jesus, not from her awesome behavior..."  So it makes little difference in what is going on outside - it's that He is going on inside and it just spills right out of her - His Joy... His grace... His Beauty!

Our All Growed Up (but not so much, really) Girlie got all gussied up and glammed out and went off Saturday night to make some memories at her Senior Prom.  After a hard year or two, and lots of (potential) Drama, she Braved Up and Leaned In and Refused to Miss Out!  She has some amazing friends, and they gathered together in celebration of all things High School and had an incredibly fun night!  

In the midst of her Prom, at the stroke of Midnight, she sent me a Mother's Day text.

Be. Still. My. Heart! ( #1204 and I count on...)

You see, this Motherhood thing is never finished!  We are never done. And whether life has been Birthed from Within Your Womb, or Built from Coming Out of Your Heart, it's what Spills Out from Between Your Lips that Creates a Bond... a Pouring Out and Filling Up and Loving Anyway;  A Grace Shower, Forgiveness Offering, & Holding On Tightly through it all...  

I have been blessed with an amazing Mom - but my mothering has not been limited to her alone!  Some of the best Mothers in my life didn't Birth me, but they did help to Birth Something IN me!

So as Mother's Day passes by, and the bouquets begin to wilt, the gifts are unwrapped (or counted and written down!), and the chocolate is nearly gone - let's not let the sense of Honor fade. 

Let's purpose to mother

and to be mothered

- for we ALL need it!

Let's risk the Breaking of our own Hearts in order to help Build Up someone elses!

Let's Count On... knowing that because we love Him, we are called to love each other!

Let's look for Open Doors, Hurting Hearts, and Lonely Eyes...

Reach Out, knowing that no matter the age of our children, "Mother" is not just what we are called, but it is who we are... it is what we do and it is not limited to the Littles we are raising!

I am counting on today - beyond one thousand gifts (I'm at #1210 today!), and beyond 18 years, because I know that my job is never done - no matter how old my baby is!  She had to work on Mother's Day, but I counted gifts all around me even with her not right in front of me... for I am blessed, and I count on...

For she, WE, all of us - need to be reminded...

(to) Speak Life. Be Love. Shine On.

~Karrilee~

I am linking up with the lovely Ann Voskamp today, with 'mulitudes on mondays'... Join us in counting gifts, and keeping an eye open for all the ways God blesses us, day in and day out!