Being a first time Mom.

Today I'm linking up with Kelly from Kelly's Korner for "Show us your Life".  This week's topic is first time Mom's with children under one year old.  For anyone who is new here, my son Elliott was born in January, and I'm a wee bit obsessed with him...  He has changed my life in so many ways, so I wanted to record some of those changes in list form today.

Upon becoming a mother...

-I have gained a new appreciation for my own mother.

-I have learned to live on very little sleep.  Sleeping in is anything past 8am.

-My life revolves around when Elliott needs to eat or sleep, saving us lots of money on eating out and entertainment.  I have a new love for Netflix and take out.

-I've become obsessed with eating clean (buying organic and giving up diet drinks), detoxing my home of harmful pollutants, and drinking out of glass rather than plastic.  I'm afraid I'm going to be "that Mom".

-My tolerance for all things disgusting (poop, puke, snot, etc.) is at an all time high, in fact, I find great pleasure in using a bulb syringe, and wiping my baby's bottom.

-My patience has increased.

-I'm eating my words.  I'm sorry for all the things I said I would "never do" when I was a mother.  It's easier said then done, especially when you've never been a mother.

-I'm loving deeper than I've ever loved before, thanking God for every day I'm still here.

-I'm learning the meaning of selflessness, putting another human's needs before my own for the first time in my life.

Motherhood is the greatest gift God has ever given me.  It's challenging, and it's exhausting, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I heard a country song I grew up hearing as a little girl for the first time since becoming a parent the other day.  I've heard this song a hundred times, but this time it filled my eyes with tears.  The song is called "A love without end, amen" by George Straight.   In the song, a young boy is fearing punishment from his father after doing something wrong, but instead of punishment, his father tells him "a secret about a father's love, a secret that [his] Daddy said was just between [them].  He said 'Daddies don't just love their children every now and then, it's a love without end, amen.'"  At the end of the song, the boy, now a man, is standing at heaven's gates fearing that if God knew half the things he'd done, He'd never let him in, when somewhere from the other side he heard the words his Daddy had shared with him again.

For the first time in my life, I can understand how much God loves me, in spite of who I am.  Nothing Elliott can ever do will make me love him less.  He may break my heart some day, but I will always love him.  A parent's love for their child is truly unique in that way.  Now that I know that kind of love firsthand, I am truly experiencing how much God loves me, and truly understanding [and believing] how He can love a wretch like me.

Being a first time Mom has been life changing.  This first mother's day, I'm praising God for the gift of Elliott in our lives, and for using him to show me how much I am loved by my heavenly Father.