I am enough!

It is almost Mother’s Day. Shout out to all of you fabulous mother’s out there!

This will be my first Mother’s Day as a mom of two! That thought still seems crazy, yet totally normal to me. We are doing well as a family of four and O is adjusting great. We have been back to “normal life” in Banyo for about two weeks, but of course it is a totally new normal now. Can we just talk about how two kids somehow make more than double the mess of one child?!

We are also consumed with adoption paperwork! Just one of the many forms we had to fill our is 45 pages! And not 45 pages of easy fill in the blanks like tell us your address type stuff! No! 45 pages of questions like- tell us about your childhood and any trauma you experienced, what are your strengths/ weaknesses, what is your philosophy of discipline, and my favorite: Describe your feelings about yourself.

Um.

Where to start. Well, the “Miss America” answer would have been- “I feel like I am the best person in the world, totally the best possible candidate for adopting a child!”

Ha. Most days I feel like I am drowning in dishes and Legos! Surely the “best candidate ever” would have figured out how to get it all done quickly, efficiently, with a smile on her face, while crafting with the kiddos.

Ha!

So I went with the honest answer:

Right now, I feel that I am enough. Or at least I am trying to tell myself that I am enough- that I am mom enough, woman enough, nurse enough, missionary enough, etc. As a woman, a mom, and an international aid worker, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the “expectations” each title carries, but I am realizing that most of those expectations are my own and perhaps I should reevaluate those expectations! I may never be the perfect Betty Crocker, Florence Nightingale, Mother Theresa hybrid, but that is alright. I know how to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, I can give chemotherapy, and I can teach about AIDS in a rural village, but I don’t have to (and can’t) do it all at the same time. I am learning about balance and seasons of life. Right now, my kids are young and they need my time to take them to the bathroom and cut up their food. Right now is a season of motherhood.

Ok, so even that answer was 95% “Miss America.” The real honest answer might scare them away: I totally don’t feel like enough most days, but I know that God is enough. He has me covered so therefore I am enough. I am enough. I am enough. I am enough.

So dear mothers out there (especially missionary mamas ‘cause we are a whole other breed)- take a deep breath, relax, and know that YOU ARE ENOUGH BECAUSE HE IS ENOUGH!

Happy Mother’s Day!

(oh and sorry can’t post pics of O until the adoption is final. I know, it is a bummer.)