If You Are A Mother

Celebrating One Year of Dearest Daughters! Help us plan the next year!

“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
(Ps 145:4)

Dearest daughters,

Well, this is the 52nd letter—an entire year of Dearest Daughters letters!

I hope these letters have been as much of a blessing to you as they have been to me. Taking my thoughts, putting them into words, and sharing them with you each week has been a transforming experience. As I write, I picture each of you and the different seasons you are walking through, and I hope that somewhere along the way these letters have been inspiring, encouraging, or helpful in your own journeys as wives and mothers.

I wanted to give you a little glimpse of what I am planning going forward.

I have begun the process of turning these first 52 letters into a devotional, which I hope you will enjoy. My vision is for it to be both a devotional and a prayer journal, a place for reflection as well as encouragement. Lord willing, it will be ready this fall, and I’m very excited about it.

As I look ahead to the next year of letters, I find myself wanting to move into some very practical areas of wifehood, motherhood, and homemaking.

My initial thought is to spend six weeks on practical homemaking, six weeks on newborn and baby care, six weeks on toddlers and preschoolers, six weeks on beginning school, six weeks on family schooling, six weeks on the teenage years, and six weeks on navigating relationships with married children.

That still leaves room for additional topics, and before I begin, I would love to hear from you.

What specific subjects would you like me to address within those categories? Are there other categories you would like included? What questions do you find yourself asking as wives, mothers, homemakers, and women seeking the kingdom of God in your homes?

Your feedback would be wonderful and would help shape the direction of the coming year’s letters.

I would also love to hear from other mothers who may eventually read these letters. If you feel comfortable, perhaps you could leave a comment on my Substack page beneath this letter and help get the conversation started. Of course, if you’d rather respond privately, that’s perfectly fine, too.

Before we close out this first year together, I want to leave you with a poem I wrote for you:

If You Are A Mother…

If you’ve awakened in the night
to the grunts of your baby,
fed them and turned them,
yet lingered a moment longer
because you couldn’t bear to lay them back down,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve stayed awake in wonder,
just to marvel,
just to weep over the wisps of breath
upon a silky cheek,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve picked up the messes,
wiped away the grime,
and still found yourself smiling
at some point each and every day,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve been vomited on and cried on,
plastered with slobbery kisses,
and simply wiped it off again with a laugh,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve embraced every moment—
the sunshine and play,
but also the chaos
that shatters your day—
then you are a mother.

If you’ve disciplined your child,
then hidden away to weep,
yet still kept doing
what would keep him safe,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve lain awake at night
repenting again and again,
yet risen in the morning
to do it all over once more,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve tried and you’ve tried
and you’ve failed,
yet left a trail—
even a broken one—
for those who come behind,
then you are a mother.

If you’ve loved beyond your strength,
prayed beyond your wisdom,
given more than you thought you had,
and risen each morning
to surrender once more,
then you are a mother.

Not because you did it perfectly.

Not because you never failed.

But because you loved.

You are a mother.

As I watch your lives unfold, I see that those of you who have children are becoming mothers, not simply by giving birth, but through the daily laying down of your lives in love.

And that brings joy to my soul more than I can adequately express.

With all my love,

Mom