Day 17: Photo Challenge

Day 17: A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.

Meeting my son, Noah, for the first time. Dec. 2010

I know that the directions were a picture of something "recently", but nothing has impacted my life more than becoming a mother. 


Motherhood has impacted my marriage. Making both Wesley and I grow in our relationship with each other and with ourselves. We have both matured. We have learned what it means to put another person's needs before our own, although we are not perfect about grumbling about it sometimes when it means less sleep or who has to change the dirty diaper for the 10th time in one day. We have given more of ourselves to each other. Being a support system, or a sturdy reminder to each other when it is needed. We look at our son and rejoice when we see each of us revealed through him. A great reminder that he was made out of our love for each other.


Motherhood has impacted my relationships with my own mother and family members. All those years when you think that your mother (or mothers in general) is crazy for crying for the 20th time over things that seem like no big deal to a growing kid. I GET IT! I GET IT! Honestly. I get it. There are no better words to express it than, "Mom...I GET IT!" And just for the record, I can not count the number of times tears have fallen from my eyes over the last 13 months 22 days since this little boy came into my life, over "the small things" like being a day older, his first steps, last bottle, 1 year birthday. The list could go on and on. 


Motherhood has impacted my relationships with friends. There are friends that you will have for life and friends that you will have for seasons in your life. The sad part is, when it becomes hard to relate to those life long friends because you are at different points in you life. There are some friends that I dearly miss, even though I know that we are still friends. However, it becomes hard to find things to talk about when you are simply at two different stages in life's journey. Hopefully one day the paths will cross again and the friendships will flourish in new ways. 


Motherhood has impacted my social life. Like stated above it is no longer "all about me", not that I ever thought it was, but simply put there are just things that I can/will not do now that I have a kid. I will not take my kid to the movie theatre or keep him out until all hours of the night so I can have fun. No one benefits from the selfish acts I see many parents doing with their kids. In the long run you get cranky kids, and worse yet, cranky parents. This isn't to say that we don't have fun or go out, those outings just take a lot more preparation and consideration than they ever did before becoming a mother. 


Motherhood has impacted my heart. I always knew I wanted to be a mother and in fact longed for the day when it would happen, but I never knew how much love my heart could hold until that  day actually came. Motherhood has made my heart beat with a Joy that can only come from God and ache in ways that I truly believe only a mother can understand. There have been moments when I thought my heart was going to be torn apart and moments when I thought my heart was going to explode with Love, Joy and Gratitude.


There are so many more ways I have not listed above that Motherhood has impacted me and I am sure the list will only get longer over the years ahead. I look forward to each and every one of those impacts.