Glad to be a Mom

I've been thinking alot lately about being a Mom.  This is one of the most challenging and yet most rewarding jobs in the world, and I am so very grateful to be able to be a Mom.  Lately my job of Mom has been challenged, things have been really hard and I have had to face some things that I never thought I would have to face, and yet I would not change the fact that I am a Mom or change who my children are.  A friend of mine who also has adopted children was asked the other day by a member of her family if she had known what would happen with her children as they grew up (a few of them are really struggling with things) if she would still have adopted them.  This got me to thinking.  I have wished a few times in my life that my children had come to me in the normal way, and without the baggage that they have; and yet then they would not be the children that they are.  As hard as it has been and as hard as it continues to be I would not change.  I would change some of their decisions, especially lately, if I could; but I would never change who they are; I would never ask to have the opportunity of being their Mom taken away.  I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to be their Mom, to be the one that is here to cheer them on, the one that is here to teach them, to help them to grow, and to wrap my arms around them when things get tough.  There are things in my children's lives - both birth and adopted - that have made them who they are, that have built their personalities, their strengths, and their talents; and I am glad to be here to help them along the path.  Despite the challenges I am very glad to be a Mom to all of my children, and would not change that for anything in the world.