"If I Could Save Time In A Bottle"...Embracing Our Authentic Selves - Signature Service

Sandra Gilmore, Selma, AL  

Signature Service

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was too soon.  I felt as though guests to a dinner party had arrived too early with the roast in the oven and my hair in curlers.  My mind was sent into a whirl of what if's, how to's and why me's. I was becoming a mother.

"Lord, give me a sign that you and I can do this together." I breathed the prayer, drew in a deep breath and then waited to exhale.

Months of holding my breath went by but no sign.  My "hope" tank was running low. I didn't just need a sign, I craved a sign. For me, motherhood was a sacred office. I admired mothers. The older women in my life were a joy to me. They gave me what they had:  their creativity, their attention, their prayers, their legacies. I wanted as much for my daughters. But I needed a confirmation that I could carry on the legacy that had been handed down to me.

Then, the birth day arrived. And so did my sign. Precisely on Mother's Day, my beautiful baby girl captured the hearts of her parents and family. I knew that the Lord had answered my specific prayer about becoming a mother. 

Four years later, He did it again. Exactly on Mother's Day, another baby girl was placed in my arms. That was the day that I realized something important. God does answer our prayers. Only a Greater Power could have planned the circumstances so many years apart, merged two genealogies into one and scheduled those events for not one but two Mother's Days. I realized that sometimes, He may leave not a sign but His Signature instead.