I've been thinking about motherhood...

Some of the Best Mothers I know are not Mothers at All!

I have been well loved over the years by many good women and I am thankful for the countless ways I have been blessed. However, I have become sensitized to the fact that some of the women who have loved me the best are not the women who most of us would expect to have "motherhood maturity."

I am speaking of women in my life without children of their own who have turned their loving nurturing toward me and expressed it meaningfully. What would we do without these women who selflessly serve us without expecting much in return in the natural sense of things?

I found a piece of art in a downtown Scottsdale store window that captured my interest. It is a brass faucet with glass spilling down like water into a small pool. The brass faucet is not visibly connected to anything. It is just a faucet spilling forth...

There is no connection to an earthly source so I automatically make a connection that there is an invisible source of water flowing through this faucet. For me, this piece of art is a picture of the outflowing of love from a life that is plugged into the amazing resources of God.

These same resources are available to all women no matter what our circumstances. What a wonderful - hopeful - satisfying picture of a life well lived because of the possibilities available to us as God's daughters. Today, I rejoice in being a woman who has the joy of knowing and experiencing this truth!

Because tomorrow is my birthday and I am turning 60, I have the privilege of once again reviewing and assessing my life. As I do, one of the things I MUST do is acknowledge the generous love of my friends who are not physical mothers but mothers none-the-less. This is a tribute to you Jacque, Mary Jane and Cindy. You come immediately to mind when I think of being well-loved. I am so very thankful for you all.