Advice from Momma

**ATTENTION ALL GUYS**
This blog contains info about female stuff! Just wanted to forewarn you!

I entered an essay contest. Not something I've ever done before but this one piqued my interest because it was asking you to submit one piece of advice your Mom passed down to you that has impacted your life. And the fact that the winner would be awarded $25k didn't hurt either!

So here's what I submitted...we'll see how it turns out!

Ode to Momma
"This too shall pass"

Encourager. Servant. Nurturer. Comforter. Words that come naturally as I think about my Mom. She is an amazing woman who has loved her family well. Over the years, she has passed along numerous nuggets of valuable wisdom. One in particular came at a crucial point in my life - the dreaded middle school years! Four simple words, "This too shall pass" has had a profound impact on my life. Many times throughout my life from a kid on to a wife and mother, I have clung to these words like a toddler clings to a security blanket.

Imagine the scene. A pre-teen entering into womanhood. It happened. I got my period! Like it was yesterday, I vividly remember thinking, there's absolutely NO WAY I can go through life wearing bulky pads and dealing with this horrific rite of passage! Embarrassment first came when I had to change in front of the other "chatty" girls in gym class. Everyone could see my panties bulging from the enormous diaper-like pad! Even my Dad would lovingly make things worse by displaying the newly purchased winged-pads in the back window of our wood-paneled station wagon as we were packing up for family vacation. Mortifying!

Consolation came when I rested in the loving words of my Mother. If Mom and Grandmommy could make it through, I knew I could too. "This too shall pass" has empowered me to look beyond my present circumstances and smile (more like a grimace) with hope at the future.