"Mirror, mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all.”
When I first became a mother, my mom gave me a sign with those words painted on it. At first I laughed and thought it was a cute gesture, but the moment my mouth uttered, “because I said so, that’s why!” I realized the time had come…I was becoming my mother after all.
Growing up I was rich in grandmothers. If you add up all my grandmothers including great-grandmothers, and one great-great grandmother there were six in total. Add to that pot my own mother and it’s easy to see that I have a long list of mother’s who poured into my life. Each one of these women left an imprint on my heart that I now carry with me into motherhood.
I think some women are natural born mothers. I am not one of them. It has been 13 years since I became a mom and chose to walk away from my career to be home for my family. You know when you have to fill out a form of some sort and it asks you what your career is? Yeah, those forms. They make me cringe. Something inside of me wants to shout out my post-secondary credentials because somewhere in the depth of my core I feel a competitive need to be more than "just" a homemaker. It never seems like enough. I have fought against the need to have purpose beyond the walls of home, perhaps more sheepishly, the need to be known by more than just my family. Maybe you can relate to that feeling.
However, my grandmothers and my mom are not remembered in my mind for their careers, but rather for the priority they placed on their family. It wasn’t their paycheques I cared about as a granddaughter and daughter, it was the arms that reached out to embrace me, the ears that listened to my extravagant dreams, the mouths that spoke wisdom through the restlessness of my teenage years, and the actions they took when they didn’t know I was watching. It has been the recognition of where I saw their value that has helped me settle in my own heart the incredible gift of being a homemaker, not just as a gift to my family, but also to myself.
As I write this, out of the seven mothers who raised me, I only have one remaining grandmother whose health is failing her by the day. This blog is my way to honour these women of my past, and keep their memories alive. Here I hope you will find a little encouragement to spur you on as you work in the hidden away from the watchful eye of the world, but treasured by your family. More importantly, my hope is that we can come to see homemaking as God sees it:
Beautiful. Valuable. Vulnerable. In need of grace. Overwhelming. Tucked away from the eyes of the public, but fully seen by our Heavenly Father.
I so look forward to sharing with you about motherhood, marriage, homeschooling, food, a simpler lifestyle like Grandma did, and, most of all, faith.
In the words of my grandmother, “Come again when you can stay longer.”
All my love.
Sarahxoxo
Need to contact me? You can do so at hello@likegrandmadid.com
Oh my goodness this is beautiful and precious. I am falling in love with you Sarah, as a little sister. I promise not to stalk (from Texas, USA) but only to support, and share your posts!!!!! This is the absolute loveliest sweetest tribute to your grandmas♡♡♡♡♡
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Tammy, the feeling is mutual! I have enjoyed getting to know you through our messages. I love when God brings together sisters from the around the world to support and encourage one another.
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