Mother to mother, this task we have is hard. It is one of the highest callings in life, and definitely one of the most rewarding. I've interviewed nine different women, each with a different perspective on the struggles and joys of motherhood. Mommas, hear the words of these incredible women. Be challenged and encouraged. And don't mistake this topic as "for women only." Men, this is for you, too. May we all be enlightened to much more passionately appreciate and support all of the mothers in our lives.

Jamie Lewis - A new mom: I have a 9 month old and a baby due in November. Being a brand new mama and stay-at-home mom, feelings of inadequacy came from no longer making a pay check, seeing a class full of students learn, and at the end of the day STILL feeling exhausted when the laundry and dishes continued to pile up. It took a bit for me to apply the purpose I knew I had as a teacher to being a stay-at-home mom. He may not be learning multiplication just yet, but there are many things to teach and do with Asher. Seeing him accomplish a new motor skill he’d been working on or say a word for the first time is my new paycheck. Showing him love and support while pouring Christ into him at this young age, that is my new purpose. Learning to be patient has been one of my biggest struggles. When I was teaching, I could escape kiddos who had been a handful for the night or over the weekend. Now, as a stay-at-home mom, I’m figuring out that I HAVE to give myself at least an hour to not think about caring for my child - especially on hard days. Maybe it’s reading, crocheting, or just playing with the dogs. Whatever it is, I try to focus on doing something fun or rewarding for myself separate of Asher. He can have the other 23 hours a day!

Advice: Have a support group you can call at any time. From telling me how to clean cloth diapers to being able to come stay the night when I have to do a few things that I can’t with a baby on my hip, I need people. Everyone does.

Rachel Gilmore – An adoptive mom: I have 2 kids, age 2 and 6 months. Lakelee was born September 2015 and we brought her home October 2015. The hardest part about being an adoptive mother right now is explaining that she is adopted but her sister isn’t and yet they are loved equally. Her birth mother has never been in touch with us and doesn’t seem to want to be; so I struggle with the thought of her asking about her mom when she’s older and wanting to see her, but not being able to provide that because of her mom’s choice. The most joyous part of being an adoptive mom is honestly just being her mom. On a regular basis, I don’t think about her being adopted (it’s kind of a forced thought) because I love her unconditionally and can’t imagine her not being my child... She was not molded inside of me, but was definitely for me. I feel completely inadequate on a daily basis. I’m a stay at home mom who does not live near any family. So on days that are hard and I feel like I can’t do anymore, I don’t feel like I give them the best that I should. I have to completely drown myself in scripture and seek out other moms for encouragement.   

Advice: Remember eternity when you look at your child. God created them to be His and for them to love Him and it’s our job to teach them and show them that love, even in the midst of sorrow and discouragement.

Lisa Stevens - A single mom: I have two daughters.  Leah is 24 and Lainey is 20. I’ve been a single mom for nearly 18 years. I’d have to say the hardest part of being a single mom is dealing with financial issues, which then brings on having to work multiple jobs, which then means you have less time with your children.  I’m 52 years old at this point.  That allows me to view my child-raising pretty much in the rear-view mirror.  I would say that the most joyous part is that I have been able to see them reach adulthood.  I see that they have turned out to be awesome, God-loving, people-loving young women.  The pressure is somewhat off of me at this point.  It’s truly a great place to be!  I don’t know that we ever get to a place this side of heaven that there are no struggles.  Financial issues are just part of the territory.  Another struggle is that I have a really hard time taking care of myself.  I’m doing better, but I have a tendency to take care of everyone else, while leaving myself uncared for.  Do I have to discipline myself? Absolutely!  And it goes along with the previous question about my struggles.  I have to just force myself to take care of me.  It doesn’t come easily or naturally at this point, but I’m trying to do better!  I also have to work on my discipline in prayer time and bible study.  Those have been constant areas where I need discipline.

Advice:  I would say that your life is not over.  I spent a lot of years feeling like I had the scarlet “D” on my forehead or chest.  Even though I was surrounded by the most wonderful family and friends, I felt as if I was a failure.  Eventually, I overcame that, and I began focusing on what I have instead of what I don’t have.  I made the conscious choice to live life wide open, whether that was with a husband or, as it has been, without one.  My life changed for the better when I let go of the dream and told God that whatever He had in store for me, that’s what I wanted!

Jennifer Powell - A seasoned mom: I have four kids. Andy is 9. Ava is 7. Ben is 6. Katie is 3. I think the hardest part of motherhood has been realizing how selfish I am. I never thought I was a selfish person at all until I became a mom. Then, when this tiny person started demanding all of my time, attention, and sleep, I realized how self-focused I was. I feel like that's why, ultimately, some days we live for nap time and/or bedtime. We want OUR time. And that's not a bad thing to need me-time. We all have to have it to recharge. But, for me, it can become an idol. Quickly. I once read Gloria Furman writing about John 15:13 in regard to motherhood. It says, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friends." She said that motherhood is a constant laying down of your life for someone else--that we are picturing the work of Christ every time we put our children before our own needs and desires. I believe that thought has brought more encouragement and challenged me more than anything else as I've grown as a mother. The most rewarding part of motherhood so far has been experiencing the grace and love my children give. I think it's so important as a mother to be quick to admit fault and apologize to my kids. I apologize more to them than anyone else. They need to see that I'm a sinner in need of forgiveness and that they are too. When I apologize, they are so free with forgiveness and grace. They don't hold grudges. They forgive. And it's such a picture of God's grace to me.

Advice -  Titus 2:3-5 is one of my favorite sections of Scripture. I view it as my job description--particularly verses 4-5. It says that the older women in the church should "train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Find ways to be trained! Watch an older woman of God. Follow her example as she follows Christ. Find training in a fellow mom who is your age but maybe has different strengths from which you could learn. Definitely seek training from God's word every day.

Brooke Cook - A step-mom:  I have 4 kids, ages 15, 11, 3 and 1/2 and 10 and 1/2 months.
Two of them are my step-children. (15 year old son and an 11 year old daughter)
I’ve been a step-mom for  5+ years. The hardest part of being a step-mom has been the fear of being misunderstood. I’ve worked very hard to make my children feel loved without seeming as if I want to take their mothers place. They love their mother dearly and there is a balance that I feel I must keep when I show them I love and care about them. It has always been important to me that they know I have respect for them and the relationship they have with their mom. I could never take her place and I am extremely thankful they welcomed me into their lives so easily. My step kids bring me the exact same amount of joy as my biological children do. I get to be one of their biggest fans and that makes my heart nearly burst. As parents, my husband and I feel it’s important to communicate with our children’s mother and her husband and they agree, so we do! Sometimes daily. It’s a team effort and we all have a responsibility to our children. It makes things so much easier when we communicate together as couples. We are on the same page more often than not and that gives us quite an advantage, one that some couples sharing biological children don’t even have. Everyone’s journey is different.

Advice: Love your stepchildren the same way you love your biological children. If you don’t have biological children yet then love them like you would want to be loved if you were in their shoes. Give them time to learn to love you, too.

Tammie Worsham - An empty-nest mom: I am the mother of 4 daughters. Jennifer, 34, Jessica, 31, Joy Beth, 28, and Jordan 24. My nest has been empty for about 6 years now. What do I miss most about having children at home? Sweet mercy I just miss them! They are beautiful, smart, strong young women and so much fun. I miss their personalities and the family dynamic we had. If I could go back and do something differently, would I? You better believe I would! Hind sight is 20/20 and with the passing years brings wisdom and lessons learned. I cringe when I remember some of the things I did and said in my girl’s early years. I wasted a lot of time in self-loathing over it… Would love a do-over but it’s not going to happen. This is where my trust in a Sovereign God brings me comfort. One of my constant requests of the Lord when my girls were at home was...”Lord, raise them up despite me.” And He did. He is faithful! The spiritual disciplines I practiced when I had children at home are the same. Private worship, Bible Study, and prayer are now enjoyed with more consistency and time. Another discipline that I am practicing now is intentional attention to my marriage. When our nest was empty my husband and I basically looked at each other and said, “And who are you?” The empty-nest presented some challenges to my husband and I. Ones that we have been able to work through by focusing on God and refocusing on each other.

Advice: - Hear this, moms....God is not hard on young mothers! A truth that I have shared with my own young mom daughters comes from Isaiah 40 :11... “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” We have a tender Shepherd who is kind and gently leads His sheep with young lambs. Rest in that. Love your babies. Don’t play the comparison game. It’s no fun and futile. God had no doubts about you when He chose you to be their mother. Trust His process with you because that’s what it is...a process. We are all in the process of becoming...

Heather Prather- A bereaved mom: I have my little boy Luke who is 3, and our second baby in heaven. I always assumed I would graduate college, get married and get pregnant. The first two things happened but we kept waiting... and waiting and waiting and I never got pregnant. Out of pure frustration a year into trying to conceive, I went to the OB/GYN. That day, I was diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. We started fertility treatments that day. I didn’t really know exactly what that meant until I was in the middle of it. Multiple pills daily, tracking my body, monthly self administrated shots and the hardest was the bi-monthly doctor visits to look at my empty womb. I left in tears and defeated most days. Months turned into years and the pain increased but so did the joy. Very few people knew the journey we were walking but the ones who did, loved us hard! They prayed with us, for us and for our sweet promise that would soon be given to us. About half way through our journey, my best friends mom gave me the verse Luke 1:45 “blessed is she who believed the promises the Lord has told to her”. That verse changed my outlook! It encouraged me to look into scripture and study about what a mother is! What I soon discovered was that being a mother is the state of your heart. A mother is patient, kind, loving and understanding. I was a mother! A mother without a baby but a mother indeed! I was called to mother everyone around me and that’s what I did. 2.5 years after we started our journey with infertility we conceived our son, Luke, who is named after the verse that got me through the hardest time of my life! Around the time that Luke turned one, we found out we were pregnant with baby number 2! We had not been “trying” and we were over the moon excited! About seven weeks into our pregnancy, we lost our sweet baby and it was a pain unlike any I had ever felt. It was down-right gut wrenching. Something I loved so deeply had been ripped away from me before I even knew her. I miss that sweet baby every single day. I long to see her growing up with Luke and Luke being the big brother he was meant to be. Yet, somewhere along the way, the Lord filled me with an unexplainable peace. A peace that only He could provide in such a traumatic time. I’m so grateful for the time I had with her, and I will always miss her but boy I can’t wait to hold her in my arms one day!

Advice: Dig into scripture and find your place in the arms of Christ. He desires to mend your broken heart and bring peace it. We have a Father who is far more loving than we can ever explain and He has a lap ready for you to crawl into!

Rachel Foley - A foster mom: My husband and I got into foster care about a year ago. Last year on Mother’s Day, we had not gotten our first placement yet! (We actually got our first placement the following week). So we are still pretty new to this. We’ve had the same child in our home for almost a year now. At the end of the day, though, I have found the difficult days and difficult nights to be worth it. The most rewarding part of being a foster mom is probably seeing the progress your foster child makes as he is in your home. I can look back to a year ago and sometimes think, “Wow, is this even the same kid?” It’s not just behavioral things you notice, although that can be part of it. It’s usually small things, things that you probably wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t live with them. But seeing that progress, knowing what simply giving a child some stability can do, is extremely rewarding. Seeing a child wrestle right and wrong and learn how to make right decisions is awesome, especially when you know it’s in spite of your parenting skills (thank you Lord for grace!). One of my biggest struggles right now as a mom is trying to balance everything in life. I know every mom struggles with this! For me, working outside the home full time, parenting, baseball, homemaking, church life, family, friendships: it often seems like there’s at least two areas that I’m dropping the ball. I think that’s where I often feel inadequacy creeping in. I want to be GREAT at everything, and I start believing that I’m just not doing a good enough job at anything. I’m thankful that I have a husband to remind me of truth when I get overwhelmed.

Advice: Remember: you ARE a mom and you CAN do this. Build your support system around you and make it happen. And at the end of the day when you think you’ve totally dropped the ball: grace upon grace. Start again tomorrow. I see you, Mama. You got this.

Jessica Webb - A seasoned mom: I have two kiddos. Our daughter Eva Kate is 8, and our son Easton is 5. I think motherhood is the most rewarding and challenging thing I’ve ever been called to. You wanna talk about sanctification? Marriage and parenthood will do it for ya. The gift of children is something I feel so unworthy of, but God has used my kids to show me His goodness and His grace. Time for myself is definitely a priority. It doesn’t always happen as often as I’d like, and it’s usually my husband who quickly notices when I need alone time. He’s also AMAZING at making sacrifices so that I can have what I need. He realizes the importance of taking a break to recharge, and he’s been faithful to allow me those moments when I need them. I’ll sometimes just get away for a cup of coffee at Starbucks by myself. Even a trip to Hobby Lobby can seem like a vacation when you don’t have a kid pulling on your leg the whole time. I try to get together with my girlfriends when I can. Most of them are moms as well, so they can relate to me when I’m struggling. I try to get together with one friend or a group of friends at least once a month without my husband or kids. Those times allow me to rest, recharge, fill my heart, and come back refreshed so that I can be a better wife and mother. Time to myself is something I have to MAKE time for.

Advice: Spending time with the Lord through prayer and Scripture and resting in Him is the best advice I could offer to any mom. . Don’t beat yourself up every time you raise your voice or feed your kid Cheetos for breakfast. There’s grace and new mercies. And when you’re on day two of no shower, and the goldfish crackers are smushed into the carpet, and your kid needs his nose wiped for the 85th time... just know that God sees you. Maybe it feels like no one else does. But God sees. He sees you and He loves you and His heart is tender towards you.

I'll end by expressing gratitude to my husband, who lovingly helped make this project possible in more ways than one, and who also made me a mom. To the little boy in these pictures with me, being your mother brings me unspeakable joy. Thank you for the unconditional, undeserving love you give to me every day. Lastly, I'd like to give a huge and sincere thank you to the women who took the time to be vulnerable and share their intimate struggles and joys of being a mom for this blog. I'm thankful to know them all and to be able to call them friend.

Tell your mother how much you love her, not just on Mother's Day, but every day. She has seen and endured far more than you could know. And to all the mother's out there, no matter what kind of mother that you are, even the moms in waiting... You are blessed and you are worthy of the calling that you have received.

Happy Mother's Day from Little Sister Photography!