I was chatting with my sweet, sweet friend Shalene Roberts over at Faith & Composition the other day. She was telling me about a post she was writing, asking if I'd be interested in collaborating with her by doing a free printable.

After reading her email with the beautifully written words of this blogpost, I knew I had to say yes.

I just wish I'd written it!

For you are anything but normal. You are beautifully brave. You are Mom!

(the printable will be revealed and available on Friday...so stay tuned!)

They call you Mom. You with the baby on your hip or the toddler at your feet. You with the towering sons or the growing-too-fast girls. Or you with the can’t-believe-he’s-in-college student or the they-have-babies-of-their-own-now children.

Mom. A simple three-letter-word. So easy in it’s simplicity that it is one of the first they learn to speak. A word not bound by economic, racial, or geographical constraints. One simple syllable.

And there are those who will tell you that the task is simple too. That the job is not to be valued highly. It’s just diaper changing, meal making, laundry folding, disagreement negotiating. At least, that’s what some will say.

But here’s the truth:

You are a mom, and you are beautifully brave. You who gave of your body to give life. You who opened arms and doors to give a home to the orphan. You who loved and remember with fierce abandon the irreplaceable beauty of a fleeting life.

You are a beautifully brave mom, forever marked by the indelible imprint of a child.

You who sacrifice sleep and showers, time and talent. You who shape ideas, mold personalities, raise a generation. You who speak truth, encourage aspirations, teach compassion, model grace, exhibit beauty. You who walk through autism, cancer, miscarriage, sickness, and health. You who look past the mess and the mire to reveal the beauty within.

When reality is harsh and circumstances have a way of crushing hopes and dreams, you are a safe harbor, a shelter from the storm.

When the world threatens to steal and seduce the affections of the innocent, you go to battle for hearts and minds.

And when wings sprout and the tethers begin to fade, you swallow the heartache and release the ties that bind while cheering and supporting this miracle of growth.

You are a mom in all its grit and glory, and there is nothing ordinary in this task. There are instead the beautifully brave markings of selfless sacrifice, worn-out prayer knees, hours of night watch, poured out affections, endurance through trials, and an unwavering love that holds steadfast.

So carry on brave one. Carry on through the laughter and the tears, the joy and the hardships, the majestic and the mundane. Carry on through the late nights and the early mornings. Stay faithful to this task of raising a generation, shaping hearts, molding character. For though the world may see a simple mom, we see you. 

We see you testifying to truth, extending grace, loving without reserve. We see you nurturing hearts, mending broken pieces, tending tear-stained cheeks. We see you through the monotonous and we see you in the miraculous.

For you are anything but normal. You are beautifully brave. You are Mom!

*If this post spoke to you, please consider sharing. I would be so honored! And if you know a Beautifully Brave mom, won’t you reach out to her, and extend to her the words that she so desperately needs to hear? Encourage her in this bold, brave calling! Tag her in social media, and then post to the hashtag #beautifullybrave. Because all these beautifully brave moms—you, your sister, your mom, your best friend … the unsung heroes who do this sacred task without much recognition—need to know that they are seen. They need to know that they are beautifully brave!

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