Boy Mom




		-------------------------------------------------------- WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 The Heart" March 7,2001 Volume 1, Issue 8 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com -------------------------------------------------------- By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of "WRITE 2 THE HEART" You are receiving this FREE newsletter because you requested a subscription. ----------------------------------------------------- SPONSORSHIP NOTICE ----------------------------------------------------- For a FREE personalized health analysis profile, visit Teraforma Health, Inc. http://teraformahealth.com/tfh/56094.html Your personal profile results will be shown immediately along with appropriate nutritional recommendations. While there, check out our line of supplements. ----------------------------------------------------- This ezine may be freely forwarded to as many people as you wish, please send the whole issue. ----------------------------------------------------- Today I want to welcome Tammy Mansfield as she writes about something near and dear to my heart, four sons! ----------------------------------------------------- Being A Boy Mom By: Tammy Mansfield ----------------------------------------------------- I am a mother of four boys. That is who I am. I am a wife, a daughter, a granddaughter, an aunt, a friend, a musician, a gardener and a cake decorator. But first, and foremost, I am a mother of boys. It has been quite a journey. I have always pictured my life to include little girls. If my mother had her way, they would be little red-haired girls! But God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to bless me with little boys. We always preach that God will never send us trials too hard for us to bear, so I have to assume that he had faith in me to be a good "boy mom." When Steve and I were expecting our first baby, 14 years ago, we chose not to find out the sex of our baby. We wanted to be surprised; however, we went into the delivery room fully expecting to have a girl. I was the oldest daughter of an oldest daughter, and my mom and grandmother had only sisters for siblings…. a very matriarchal family. "It’s a boy" were the most shocking words I had ever heard. But, being our firstborn, we were thrilled. Steve was so proud to have a son. If God had given me a daughter, I might have stopped having children after the first child. I know I would have stopped after the second child. Due to complications, I have had four Caesarian deliveries, so my child-bearing was limited right from the beginning. Couple that with the fact that society as a whole frowns on anyone who procreates more than the prescribed amount of accepted offspring, and I’m sure I would have halted at two children. But God knows what he is doing. My desire to have a daughter, so that I could enjoy the same wonderful relationship that I had shared with my mother, was overwhelming. With each ultrasound, I suffered a temporary moment of total despair followed by the joyous expectation of picking out yet another male name. I never would have believed that I would still be having babies at the age of 36, but here I was, giving it one more try. Steve and I had decided that our fourth child would definitely be our last, because of my age and health risks with the operations, so I knew this was my last chance to have a biological daughter of my own. The day that we saw his little body on the ultrasound monitor should have been a time of rejoicing, and yet, I couldn’t help but feel like God had cheated me. We drove home from the doctor’s office in silence once again. Now I realize that there are women all over the world who, for whatever reasons, can’t conceive. I should have been ashamed for these selfish feelings. But all I could imagine was a life without hair bows, frilly dresses and all things pink. Who would I give my precious doll collection to? I felt like I was experiencing the death of a long-cherished dream. I knew that I would love this baby, no matter what the sex, but the emotions were there nonetheless. Well, God is so gracious. About a week after the ultrasound, I was thumbing through my Bible, and I ran across the story of Josiah, a child who became one of the kings of Israel at the young age of eight. The sentence that really caught my eye said, "And Josiah served the Lord ALL the days of his life." What a blessing to have a child who never struggles with rebellion and disobedience. I told the Lord right then and there that I would bless this baby with the name JOSIAH and I never looked back. We have chosen all of our children’s names from the Bible because we like the spiritual meanings of Hebrew names. At the time I was pregnant with Josiah, I was taking a course at my church where we studied the meaning of our name. We discovered that your parents don’t really give you your name. God does. He just uses your parents (and name books and opinionated people) as tools. From the moment that I knew what this baby’s name would be, I was completely consumed with peace. (The name Josiah means Fire of the Lord so I was slightly concerned that he might be born with flaming red hair!) I never would have had FOUR children if I hadn’t kept trying to have a girl. God has shown me that I have been given the chance to raise up four God-fearing men. With today’s supply of worthless, immoral men, I know that God has given me a very important job, one that he knows I can handle. I'm proud to be a mom with a "full quiver" of arrows. As a sidebar to this story, my brother and his wife just had their first child this past year, a little girl with flaming red hair………… Tammy Mansfield ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tammy Mansfield is happily married with four boys and lives in Hattiesburg, MS. She has a degree in music composition from USM. She teaches piano and music theory lessons, plays the piano for her church and is an avid gardener. She can be reached at tmanshouse @ c-gate.net ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ To My Child By: Gale Stevens ------------------------------------------------------------ As you grow and as you learn You will find life has many turns Trust your heart to know the way Do not worry what others say Be true to yourself over the years It will save your heart many tears No one ever gets everything right And everyone sometimes loses sight Sight of the things they need to see Sight of how things could and should be But I know you have it inside of you To always do what you need to do I trust in you enough to know That you won't fail in your struggle to grow If you ever need a friend to care Or you find yourself lost somewhere Turn to me, I will always be around To help you get your feet back on solid ground I will never leave you or turn my back I will always do my best to catch your slack I trust in you and know you will be okay I know that you will grow every day So, as you learn and as you grow Know I am here, wherever you go Gale Stevens Galetexasbelle @ cs.com --------------------------------------------------------- Gale has had poems printed in Write 2 The Heart and in other ezines. She is the proud mom of two girls and lives in Texas. ----------------------------------------------------------- From our Readers ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl - reminds me of my mama's biscuits. I can't match them. Have had to alter the recipe to go with Cholesterol needs. Still doesn't match up. I have found using buttermilk/lemon juice & milk - seems to work best for the moisture part. I also give them a "pinch" of love - each recipe gets that. Cheryl - I did "test" Gale and that is how the "LUCK" poem being "God's blessing in the blink of an eye" came to pass. I was so pleased to get that "reply". Love ya lots, Eloise Hey Cheryl, Steve and I have been through every bisquit there is, homemade and store bought and nowadays we are totally hooked on those preformed, frozen bisquits that come in the bags at Walmart. I know that's 'tacky' but we love them. They really remind me of huge homemade ones. Tammy ---------------------------------------------------------- I will definitly try Tammy's bisucuit recipe real soon. Yesterday was my birthday. I celebrated with a pan of biscuits! Then spent the evening enjoying the view of a hospitol emergency room. Jeremy, the youngest of my four sons, broke his wrist skate-boarding. He is now the proud owner of a cast. See you next week, Cheryl CLASSIFIED ADDS ----------------------------------------------------------- Visit TeraForma Health, Inc. http://teraformahealth.com/tfh/56094.html for a FREE personalized body typing. Discover which foods and exercise programs are right for your body type. ----------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 Write 2 The Heart ------------------------------------------------------------ All subscriptions sent to your email free of charge.