Mother's Day

Your children are not your children

Your children are not your children

They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you.

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts

for they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls

for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you

for life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite

and he bends you with his might that his arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness.

for even as he loves the arrow that flies, so he loves also

the bow that is stable.

(Kahlil Gibran)

Mothers are mothers because of our children......and they never leave our hearts, however far they travel, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

"Motherhood is a hard thing. As time passes, our babies are born and leave the safety of our wombs; they crawl and walk and then run away from us. In fact, a good mother is working toward the day when her son or daughter will healthily and happily live completely independent of her. The joy of being a mother is so very closely linked with the sorrow of being a mother. It is holy ground."

(Stasi Eldredge)