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mothers day 2015

i've been so blessed with an abundance of great mothers in my life.  i suppose that's why mothers day seems like such a natural time to truly celebrate the nurturing, maternal spirit of the mothers in my life, and motherhood in general.  so today i celebrate my own mother, my mother-in-law, my grandmothers, as well as those who have acted like mothers to me when i was away from home.

but as i help do whatever i can to raise up three boys into young men, i am especially aware of the difficult job of being a mom, as modeled so beautifully and gracefully by my wife, shannon.  and i want to foster in my children a kind of awareness of and gratitude for her and all she does and who she is.  so we've been making videos for 7 years now to try and cultivate those things, and honor shannon with a tribute that, if it doesn't capture her doing her mom thing, at least captures the fruit of her labors (literally) in this particular moment of their growing up.

so, without further ado, here is our latest installment of a series of videos meant to celebrate the life of our family, and the way shannon nurtures and blesses each of us in a way that causes us to grow and be full of life in so many ways.




the collage which you see the boys working on is part of her present.  she had wanted another one i had made like it, but it was sold from an art gallery, so we decided to make her her own.  but this one is even more special.  for the past few years shannon has used old forks in our garden here at home to mark the various vegetables.  she just sticks an old fork in the ground (i have dozens and dozens of the because of my collage work), and writes with a black marker on the handle.  over the last few years, the forks have become rusty and weathered.  i used those old forks to write the word "grow" on this collage, as a symbol of the way she is nurturing us and helping us to grow.

happy mothers day, and thanks to all the moms who helped me grow into who i am still becoming today, especially my own Mom!  love to you all!

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