The Job Of Being A Mother

meditation

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It is the most awesome responsibility...
It is the source of the greatest joy...
And the most soul piercing pain...
One moment in time and your whole life changes...
Forever without end... until your last breath
You have to care for that human being...
Feed it, love it, nurture it every step of life's way...
From breast feeding or warming up bottles...
Wiping noses, changing diapers...
To crawling, walking, kissing boo boos...
Teaching your child the difference between hot and cold...
Good and Bad.. .happiness from pain...
There's years of spanking hands, months of spanking butts
Lots of tears, fear and more than enough love
You are the teacher, the playmate, the doctor, the referee...
You are their driving instructor, their advisor, their confidant...
You are their hope, their faith, their encouragement...
And sometimes, even their discourager...
You are sometimes their best friend, and oftentimes their enemy...
Unfortunately, their enemy more times than not...
They have their friends, you are their parent
And there is not a minute to slack...
You cannot be replaced by friends, video games, cable TV, money or fame
You are more valuable than the world's endless array of "things"
You must be strong, yet able to bend...
You must be gentle, yet tough to the end...
You must be ready to smile, able to cry
You must be the first to say you're sorry...
First, to reach out with a touch...
This job, which is of the utmost importance...
Which gives the least gratitude... is assigned to you by God himself
Because He believe in you...
He believes you will not let him down...
He believes you are up to the task...
And He's left it in your very inexperienced, uneducated, frightened hands....
For no book can be written by man to train you
There is no "Parenthood for Dummies", at least not one that would be adequate
But there is a book to guide you written by God himself, the Bible
And each night when you say your prayers (and true parents still do)
Don't forget to thank God. for not leaving it all up to you...
And for being there, always night or day. to help...

-- Tammy Hornbeck