Hola Mi Amor!

Hola Mi Amor!

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! Como estas my love? Well in honor of mothers, all those that mother and even possibly smother 👀😅this post is for you and the ones you love whom require your title.

Miraculous

Office

That

Holds

Eternal

Reflections

Holy

Opportunity

Ordained

Destiny

I have experienced 43 years of being mothered and for the last 23 times around the sun I have been blessed to be a mami.

It’s taken over 2 decades to finally get to the place where I believe that I am my best version of myself as a mother. This isn’t because I have mastered parenting, but I absolutely found the perfect manual and the best teacher anyone could ever have! And you too can have the same. Guess what?! It’s already been paid for in FULL! Hallelujah!

This past week was my first class after 2 weeks off. I prepared a variety of options for my girls to make gifts for their mom(s). When Holy Spirit reminded me that morning of years past when I was active in my S.I.S. Mentors and events for young ladies 12-18 I took note of it, but I really didn’t give much thought to it. Little did I know that my girls would need something completely different in our Creative Lab.

One of my students came in very out of character for her. After I showed her some love and concern she opened up like Niagara Falls pouring her heart out. My girls know that I will always bring things back to Jesus and love so they’re very receptive to our conversations. One sharing became 4 of them opening up about their relationship and frustrations with their mother.

My girls literally asked if I could shift to a therapy session with them as they were creating their mothers’ gifts. I didn’t skip a beat and sat with them. What I was hearing mostly was how they do not feel heard, a few were afraid to open up to their mom and one even shared how she believes her mom doesn’t even like her. This broke my heart as a mother, a daughter and their teacher!

The day prior at our women’s networking event one of our sisters lead an icebreaker similar to what I used to do with my youth and professional women’s group. Holy Spirit said “remind them who they (my girls) are!” I grabbed a pretty piece of paper and cut it into 4ths. I asked one of my girls to write their names on a card. Next I gave everyone a card and asked them to write something encouraging or positive about the person on that card. They swapped after one minute until they had 3 encouraging messages from their fellow sisters.

Enrichment time was nearly over so as I was checking on the rest of my class the other 4 started reading their cards! 😳 Before I knew it loud cries were heard from across the room. They were balling their eyes out from the kind words that were shared on those pink cards.

Life is often filled with parents and for today I’m focusing on mothers, who are walking wounded and doing the best they can, what they’ve been taught or even trying to do the very opposite of what they endured as a child. Motherhood is a battleground flooded with opportunities where we can either build bridges, bevel barriers, pass down generational trauma or allow God’s Word and Holy Spirit to assist us in training a child up in the way they should go.

While sharing with my girls about parenting through your own trauma responses I mentioned the “Golden Rule” which is in both Luke 6:31 & Matthew 7:12. The most important thing that stands out to me in these verses is the latter part that says “as you would want to be treated.” My question to them was what if all you’ve known is trauma and drama all your life? What if you lack self love, self worth and don’t feel valued or worthy? What if you were living with harbored anger and resentment? What if you were mothered by a wounded woman as well? Then how might you likely treat your child? And from what you’ve experienced thus far, what kind of mother do you plan to be?

For over 20 years I was a good mami, I love my children, I advocated and fought for my children, but I did so from a very broken place plagued by the traumas of my past that were blinding pieces of my present keeping me from being fully present and parenting from a place of wholeness. BUT God!!! There’s grace!!!

There’s grace for parenting, pastoring, mentoring, teaching and guiding a generation that are not only aware of their feelings, but also aren’t afraid of expressing themselves with an expectation that they will be heard, understood and communicated with in this same vein of transparency. There’s grace for us with the children that we’ve already raised and no longer live in our homes. God can heal and redeem your relationships with your children and even with your own mother.

This is where I would like to remind you that it’s never too late to heal from your past or your present- AND it’s never too late to ask God to teach and guide you on how to parent the child(ren) He chose you to nurture! The blessing of the marriage between therapy and theology is that when you give your ALL in becoming your best most healed self, everyone around you will be extremely blessed to reap the benefits. Not all of them will love this new version of you at first, but it will bless them nonetheless.

Now as both a mother and a daughter I can give my Mami grace and help her heal with the tools I’ve gained, as well as doing the same for my own children and all those I love. I don’t have to understand or ever be told the different pieces of my Mami’s journey that caused her to parent in any specific area or situation like she did, all I need to do is pray for her, love her with the love of Christ and give her grace from my newly healed space.

I am eternally grateful that God blessed and chose Sandra A. Leyva Gamble to be my Mami. She sacrificed so much of her life to give me mine and to fill my world with experiences and opportunities that would shape me into the woman and mami I’ve become. A few of the greatest gifts she blessed me with were my foundation of faith, her relentless love, unwavering support, her unmatched servanthood and the ability to always be creative in my own ways. To God be the GLORY for the woman you are Shorty and the woman of God you’re continually growing to become. ¡¡¡Te amo mucho Mamacita y feliz de la Madre!!!

And to my God who is the absolute GOAT of a co-parent to me as a single Mami and a Father to our children- I am eternally grateful, honored, thankful, blessed and beyond proud that You chose me to nurture, love and raise Jabri Christopher and Dyawna Marie Gamble! If I had 10,000 tongues I couldn’t thank You and praise You enough!!! God I love You!!! Thank You for making me a Mami- despite who I was and knowing who I would become!

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Love & Blessings,

Jana M. Gamble

HolaMiAmor.blog

#HolaMiAmor #JanaMGamble #MothersDay