Pick A Card- Any Card

So I've been pondering in my heart these last few weeks what special message I want to write to our birth mom.  There really are no words but only deep full emotions that I hope to convey in some sort of representative collection of words.  The magnitude of the relationship between two mothers forever bound together by their mutual love of a child is not easily expressed!  Part of my list of considerations in doing this is to pick a card.  What kind of card?  Well, I'm so glad you asked!

THANK YOU CARDS  Even the most heart felt gratitude typed into a card in cursive & rhyming couplets almost feels like an insult.  I long to show our birth mom the depths of my gratitude.  Gratitude for her incredible sacrifice, her unwavering trust in us, her complete love of this child, her desire for an open addition, her support of us as we prepare to parent & so much more.  Thank you cards are great for the lasagna your dear friend cooked while you were sick so you didn't have to or the neighbor who watched your dog while you were away or even the visitor who brought you flowers after a death in the family.  But somehow when someone is handing you there flesh & blood entrusting their precious child's life into your hands, a thank you card falls flat.

CONGRATULATIONS CARDS  On the surface this might seem hurtful.  A Congratulations on your new baby card to a woman essentially choosing to have empty arms after giving birth almost seems like a slap in the face.  In my deepest heart I want to congratulate our dear birth mom!  She did it!  She was pregnant for all those months.  She endured sleepless nights.  She labored with deep love for this child in more ways than one.  She is & forever will be this child's mom & for all of that & more she deserves to be celebrated!  However, the gleeful expressions in those cards might come across insensitive to her great loss & sacrifice.

CARE & CONCERN CARDS  This woman that I have come to love in a way that I can't even put into words is intentionally walking a path known to be filled with pain & heart break.  She is about to walk through one of the very deepest valleys of grief & I am genuinely concerned for her.  I want our birth mom to know that we care about her & are not just in this to have a baby.  We are grieved at her loss & even though it brings us great joy to become parents, it pains our hearts to know it comes at her very personal expense.  We want her to know that our prayers are with her.  In those wee our of the night while we rock our son, we will be lifting her up, praying that God would comfort her & cradle her. 

GET WELL SOON CARDS  Although in some ways minor compared to the other things happening, our birth mom will be physically healing from the c-section & all of the things that go along with pregnancy.  We want her to know that we care about her physically!  The discomforts & inconveniences of recovering from such a surgery are no walk in the park!  We pray that the physical part of this healing journey would be smooth & as easy as possible.

So, if you happen to know of a great Thank-You-Congrarulations-Care-&-Concern-Get-Well-Soon Card let me know!  In the mean time, I will be at the craft store, trying to figure out how to convey all of this & more with a folded piece of paper, some nice pens & maybe a stamp or two.

With much love for our birth mom!