I’ll be real – Today, I woke up missing my momma. Missing home is part of the experience, and choosing into what He has for me despite these kinds of discomfort has been humbling and growing. So today, instead of being withdrawn and wishing to be home for a cookout in Masonville, I’m choosing into this experience while still honoring my mother and mothers everywhere.
The Lord has been teaching me a lot about motherhood these last few years. As I get older and as I have gotten more experience with caring for children, I have grown in appreciation for all that a mother is, and all that mine is specifically.
Michelle Mason is the most humble, kind, selfless, caring, encouraging, and wildly loving woman I know. I, along with my brother, sister in law, and every other person that has been grafted into our family is incredibly blessed to have her. She serves so beautifully and will literally lay down her life over and over and over again for the people around her. She has always been so supportive of her family and has been right there with us through everything we undertake. Her love has followed me to Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Bulgaria and Albania, and will meet me in Africa and Asia. She has always let me be myself and chase after my dreams, even to the ends of the Earth. She has created loving environments where I can cultivate my passions and has called me to never give up and never settle. She has shown me what a loving wife should be in how she loves my dad, in moments of victory and moments where she’s fallen short. And lastly and most importantly, she loves Jesus Christ with everything she has. She has tasted His redemption, been washed in His mercy and forever changed by His life and love. My mother is not incredible by her own power or merit, but because True Incredibility by the name of Jesus Christ lives in her. Because the Almighty has set up camp in her heart, the world (and her world) sees Him clearly. She loves radically and challenges me and others to do the same. Her love and support make me and Brandon and Elizabeth better.
As I sang babies to sleep in Honduras, sat on the sidelines at soccer practices in El Salvador, and woken up every 3 hours to bottle feed a week old orphaned puppy in Albania, I grow to understand and appreciate a mothers love more and more. And with every one of these experiences, The Lord is training me in advance for my own journey as a mother. Jesus has used the life and influence of my own mom and the opportunities He’s blessed me with to teach me exactly what it means to multiply, to love unconditionally, to get messy, to forgive often, to give grace and to instruct wisely, and to put aside yourself in order to love others beyond ourselves.
So, Momma, it’s sad because I can’t be with you today but it’s because I’m on the other side of the world doing what you’ve trained me to do. I wish I could be there with you physically but I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for all you do for me and for others. Here’s to you, Moms! I love you so much!
All my love from Albania,
Breanna
