"I Want to Be Momma"

When I was a young girl (and even now) I loved the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea movies series.  While beautifying for a holiday celebration, two of Anne’s students put all of their primping efforts into looking just like their teacher.  Anne responds to their mimicry with a statement that I have always remembered, “Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.”  It’s quite true, really.

The Fosslings often play “family” and reenact scenarios of the day’s events.  It’s incredibly entertaining to watch them interact and converse the way momma and daddy do or attempt adult duties through their own interpretations.  Yesterday, my little, middle Fossling was a broken record of “I want to be momma!  I want to be momma!”  So, naturally I felt so honored!  It wasn’t until we piled into the van that I understood the meaning behind her words.  As we drove down the road, the back seat was a-chatter with tiny voices debating the mystery of motherhood.

“I want to be a momma!”

“You have to get married first, sissy.”

“Yeah, I get married first.”

“Well, you have to marry someone who loves God and who loves you, just like Daddy and Momma.”

“Yeah, I do that.”

“Then you have to pray for a baby and wait for God to give you one.”

* pause * “Dear God, may I please have a baby and be a momma?”

My heart just swelled up and I couldn’t decide whether to smile or cry…so I did both.

I am completely humbled any time I watch the Fosslings lovingly rock and sing to their baby dolls, put their sunglasses on top of their heads, call their sippy cups “coffee mugs”, or don an apron and say “what’s on the menu for tonight?” while pretending their coloring book is a cookbook.  It’s humbling because I see my own actions mirrored in the activities of my daughters.  To think that someone would want to mimic something I do is both an honor and a worry.  I have seen the Fosslings pat the backs of their dollies and whisper, “It’s ok, momma’s here.  Momma’s got you.”  And my soul overflows with pride.  I have also seen the Fosslings get frustrated and use facial expressions and body language that was most certainly learned from yours truly.  And at that moment my soul pangs with regret.

I have huge aspirations and hopes for my three precious daughters.  I pray every day that they grow to be honorable women who love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind.  That their virtues outshine the bleak void of morality that will surround them.  That they will think of others more highly than themselves and serve in the name of love.  That they will live thankfully and give generously.  That they will be strong yet gentle, firm in their convictions yet graceful in their delivery.  That in whatever they do, people will see the love of God abundantly in their lives.

God used that little conversation in the back seat of the van to remind me that if I want my girls to be such incredible women as I have just described, then they need to see it in me first.  How’s that for humbling?  God has entrusted three darling girls to my care not just for the fun of putting them in matching dresses, having tea parties, running on the beach, making cookies, reading books, and snuggling.  He has given me the blessing, privilege, and high-calling of raising them in His ways and showing them His love through every word I speak, every way I move, every gesture I display, every interaction I encounter.  Because the Fosslings are watching closely, absorbing it all in their little, spongy brains and reenacting the whole show.

I want to be flattered by their imitation, not ashamed by it.  I want to know that when God sees how I live and how the Fosslings adopt that lifestyle, that He is proud.  Because He is most assuredly flattered when we are imitators of His actions and mimic His lifestyle.