Adoption & Race: What Makes a Mom a Mom?

What makes a Momma?

Is it biology? Carrying a child in your womb? Giving birth to a baby boy or girl?

Well yes of course. Biology and shared genes definitely make a mom a mom. And having given birth to two precious babies myself, I am grateful that God chose us women to carry and nurture life.

But there's so much more that makes a mom a mom.  Let's take a look at the many ways we women become mommas and mommas-at-heart...

A mom is the woman who gave birth to her third biological child (just today) while raising her two really young sons alongside two foster babies that joined their family months ago.

A mom is the woman who went back and forth to Haiti to fight to bring her daughters home.

A mom is the white woman who traveled all the way to Sierra Leone, Africa to adopt her beautiful, brown twin girls.

A mom is the black woman who traveled all the way to Moscow, Russia to adopt her beautiful brown baby boy.

A mom is the woman who opened her home and heart to seven foster kids age newborn to seventeen this very weekend. Yes seven... While already raising five young children. Yes five... Yep... your math is correct. That makes 12 children in her home.

A mom is the woman who selflessly made an adoption plan for her child, hoping to give her a chance at a better life than she believed she could provide.

A mom is the woman who carried life then lost it too soon. Whether she experienced a miscarriage (I've experienced two) or lost her baby soon after birth, she is forever and always a mom to those babies in heaven.

A mom is the woman who loves her husband's children as much as she loves the children she birthed.

A mom is the auntie that loves and spoils her nieces and nephews in ways that we moms are sometimes too over-scheduled and exhausted to do.

A mom is the educator who cares well for her students, with a healthy balance of discipline and compassion. One who knows that every adult remembers their favorite teachers decades afterwards.

A mom is the mentor who listens more than she advises. Who affirms more than she instructs. Who prays more than she preaches.

A mom is the woman who loves much, forgives often and nurtures well.

She defends her children fiercely, knowing they will never fully realize the depths of her love for them.

She is invaluable. She is YOU. She is ME.

So to all the mommas and the mommas-at heart, Happy Mother's Day.

You are amazing, my Sister. 💛💛