This post is dedicated to all mothers – from the new, to the not so new, to the seasoned and mothers whom are soon to be…

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From the first time a child is placed in its mothers hands. We realize then that those 9 months prior to baby being inside the womb is now a reality in our very arms. We have feelings of awe; amazement and oh how beautiful he or she is along with the reality of “Now I’m a Mother”. But after the newness of everything begins to fade away —- We are faced with the question of what type of mother will I be. Not realizing that the real responsibility of having this child has deeply sunk in. Upon leaving the hospital you are given your child, the arm bracelet that was used to separate them from the other children in the nursery, a couple of diapers, a little milk, some information you need to take to the social security office, a final CONGRATULATIONS!!! And suddenly you’re whisked away in a wheel chair to the car that will escort you and your bundle of joy home.

There are no manuals of the how’s, what’s and what ifs and there’s no paper for a nanny service just in case you get too overwhelmed. You are now a Mother and you have a 5-10Ib responsibility in your possession – life has just begun. If you did not have a prayer life before – It also has just begun for you, the day your child was born. Because now you have more than yourself to pray for, a child is an ever constant circle in our prayer lives and it continues eternally. (It never ceases)

At this point you have no choice about whether or not you will be an influence, because now every action carried out by you will mirror that of your child. But the question is what type of influence “YOU” will choose to be.

About 3 months ago my daughter approached me, she has always told me she wanted to be an author and have wrote a couple of things that have been strolled in and out of notebooks, this time she wanted to try and write a chapter book, but she found herself stuck and couldn’t get past the first couple of pages – she needed a little motivation to keep going, I often tell her – don’t start and stop, keep going you have to be consistent with your writings, don’t give up – why are you always quitting..

So I decided to show her something that I really hadn’t shared with anyone else, I took down all of my writings from the inside of my closet, which has been kept in a torn pouch, inside that pouch are plays, short stories, poems and random thoughts that I have kept over the years, I write something and place it in the pouch on top of the closet shelf…this time since I have a daughter who’s aspiring to write, I figured I would let her read one of the stories that I had written. I felt so proud to see her face go from side to side as she was reading each line, my daughter reading something that I had written, her mother…..not from a book, but she’s actually reading my writing….I was thrilled!

Once she finished she said mama, that was awesome – you are a good writer and while that motivated her to write a couple of more pages to her novel….as I turned to pick up the story and put it back in my torn/worned out pouch – MY HEART SUDDENLY BROKE INTO A MILLION PIECES!

I began to think about the treacherous road I was taking my daughter down, is this the way I am showing her how to live out her dream? “Once you finish that story honey, we’re going to buy you a pouch to put it in and store it on the top shelf of your closet and one day you can show your daughter all of your hard work” – THAT HAS LITERALLY GONE TO WASTE. All my  dreams went to the top of the closet and stayed there and that’s exactly what I was telling my daughter to do with hers, don’t go further – for it stops at the top of the shelf in the closet.

It hit me like a ton of bricks, what was I doing? – This two pound baby whom was born a preemie, this baby whom has depended on me from birth until now, was given by God to a mom with no legacy plan. As I sat there and cried, realizing that I was not only holding my daughter from her dream but I had held myself from my own as well.

What type of Legacy will you leave your child MOM, what gifts/dreams are you storing in your closet, locked away for no one to see. We are our children’s first influence; No TV personality should hold the #1 spot in their lives as being their aspiration; YOU SHOULD! Your child, from the time you bring them home from the hospital is your first FAN, show them how to be successful – show them how to be loved – show them how to be humble – show them how to be the better side of YOU.

You are your child’s first influence, everything you do or teach will be a reflection of you and your child will be there to be the little fish to eat up everything you dish out to them…make sure you are dishing out the right information and please whatever you do – take your gifts down from the closet and share them with your child, because we shouldn’t very well live out our dreams through our children, but they should aspire to live out their dreams through us.

Make sure you give your child all you have; for they are only small once and will grow so fast right before your very eyes….the time you have with them are only for a little while, give them everything that’s inside of you including what’s in your very own closet…

What Legacy are you or will you live out in front of your child?