To those mothers who wear their strength like armor, this one's for you.

On the eighth day, God looked down at His perfectly planned creation and said, "I need someone who will love people the way that I do." So God made a mother.

God said, "I need someone who will get up at the crack of dawn even after a long and sleepless night to get her day started for her family, spend the majority of her morning and afternoon working on the list of thousands of things that she needs to complete, but will drop every single one of them when her baby girl has a scraped up knee or her twenty-year-old has had a bad day and just needs a little tender, love, and care." So God made a mother.

God said, "I need someone who is willing to jump in a car and drive children to school, volleyball games, and church services on a daily basis. I need someone who can run to the grocery store twice in one day because something was forgotten on the list. I need someone who will spend the night baking and cooking dinner for a group of young pre-teenagers because her middle schooler is longing for closer friendships. I need someone who will do all of these things and never complain because of the deep, deep love she has for her family. So God made a mother.

"I need someone with a strong heart. Strong enough to carry a heavy heart of her own as well as her children's, yet broken enough to know when it's time to fall on her knees and pray. Someone who will stay up until three in the morning wiping tears when a heart gets broken or people are unkind, who will know that in every hard place is an opportunity to extend grace and show others My love for them. I need someone who will always love people even when it's hard, who will take the words for better or worse just as they are meant, and never once give up on anyone she loves. I need someone who is willing to take all of the heartache their children may experience and carry it on her shoulders, and even when she can't fix it, she'll do everything in her power to lessen the sting." So God made a mother.

God said, "I need someone who can shape a soul and iron Sunday dresses and suits at the last minute before leaving for church services. I need someone who will look into the hurting eyes of her children when they can't understand what I am doing and remind them that I am good and My plans are always great, who will reassure them that when things seem like they are falling apart they are coming together in My name, and will spend her whole life trying to bring her children back into My arms." So God made a mother.

God needed someone willing to ride a roller coaster of anxiety, joy, heartbreak, fear, hope, and pride with a calm assurance as she sends her baby off to college knowing that they are both scared to death, but will be okay. He needed someone who will answer a million questions about how to wash different kinds of laundry, cook certain meals, and try to solve all of life's problems over the phone, all while laughing and reassuring her sweet daughter in the middle of her breakdown that it'll all be okay. He needed someone who would try and protect her children from every ounce of pain that life will throw at them and will use her comfort and encouragement to heal the pain that they can't. He needed someone who would give them the earthly comfort that in eternity, they will find in Him. So God made a mother.

It had to be someone special.

Someone who could stand in the middle of the mess, find the blessings and serve Him anyways. Someone who would be willing to love even when it doesn't make sense. Someone who would pour out her heart and bend over backwards for her children and anyone she loved, who would be saddened by her children growing older, but loving through the process because of her belief in them. Someone who would gently allow her daughter to spread her wings, but never completely let go. Someone who would always know that even if her children outgrow her lap, they will never outgrow her heart, So God made a mother.

God said, "I need someone who will bring peace to a world full of chaos."

"I need someone who will make her daughter's world a better place simply by being her mother."

So God made a mother.

So, in case I haven't said it enough, thank you, Mom. Thank you for making me your world so that mine was easier to live in. Thank you for being my assurance of love, the protector of my heart, and the one beautiful piece of my life's puzzle that makes everything fit just right. No matter how much you say you love me, I will always love you more.