There are some fun and exciting things going on around here, crammed between our moments of tears. We are planning a memory garden for Millie’s playground. A few of you have asked to buy trees and flowering bushes to place in her garden. We had a friend who is a professional landscaper come and help us with the planning. They also intend to help us plant everything as it arrives. We will be purchasing a park bench to place there. We plan to have a sign with her name or Millie’s playground marking it. We will be placing all the wonderful angel statues, garden lights, and memorial stones we have been given out in the garden. We plan to keep with her butterfly theme. We want this to be a place to sit and remember, but also a place of JOY. We want to live LIFE in her garden, while we savor sweet memories of her playing there. There is a beautiful view from the playground of the early morning sunrise. It reminds me that "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5
Today while I was at the bank, I saw another sign reminding me to have JOY. I am trying to keep my focus of being a JOYFUL mother. Psalms 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Many of you know me a “Millie’s Momma”, which I am. Today however I was thinking on my motherhood journey. For 30 years I have been a momma to 9 different children. If you had met me anytime prior to June 20, 2019 you would have simply though of me as the “lady in the shoe…who had so many children she didn’t know what to do” 😊 Seriously, at that point I wasn’t Millie’s momma. Most of the time we called her Amelia still. However, once she became sick and received the dreaded diagnosis of neuroblastoma, once we decided to have a prayer page for her, we decided to use her nickname for the page. She had quite a few nicknames, Amy, Millie, Clementine, Mills, Mill-Mill, Millie Moo, and I’m sure others. However big Brother Joseph’s nickname of Millie was what stuck. At that point I became known as “Millie’s momma” to so many.
I was Millie’s momma for 3 years, 7 months and 25 days. That is only 1/10th of my mothering experience. The other 26+ years I’ve been momma to a lot of other people. It reminded me today that as I seek JOY, it needs to focus on what I still have, not one the one gone on before me. I need to be a JOYFUL mother of children. I need to continue on running this race as in 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” I want to run that race successfully. I do not want my other children to get pushed aside as I walk through grief. Before Millie passes an older child of ours expressed that their greatest fear was that her family would never be the same. Now in some ways that is true, but what she was expressing was that fear that she would lose mom, dad, and all family life in the process. We agreed then we could not let that happen.
Each day I talk to different people and they tell me they read this page but don’t often comment. It is a great blessing to me to know that you care how we are doing. It is wonderful to know there is a body of believers still praying for us. It brings me joy to know that you enjoy hearing about Millie, but also about the rest of us. Thanks for surrounding us in love. 🦋💖🦋
Praises:
💕I'm so blessed by pretty flowering bushes and trees. I'm excited to see what Millie's Playground will look like as we keep working on it.
Prayers:
🔹Pray tonight for the all school children that start back soon in the midst of such chaos. May God give wisdom, protection, and a peace surrounding them.
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