My name is Natalie Snapp and I’m a mom.

But I’m also a nurse, a psychologist, a professional errand-runner, a personal shopper, a cook, an activities director, a cleaning service, an encourager and a Monday morning motivator.

Is there anything more comprehensive than the role of a mother?

And as I get older (41 years to be exact but who’s counting?), I’m learning that you don’t have to actually give birth or sign adoption papers to become a mother.

The definition of a mother is so comprehensive that it also has the power to change from a noun to a verb in an instant.

I’ve seen women without personal children of their own mother hundreds of people through love, support and motivation.

I’ve seen them mentor young girls and boys.

I’ve seen them counseling broken young women in the early stages of marriage who didn’t know it would be so hard.

I’ve seen them as the never-acknowledged, quiet voice of encouragement often found behind the courageous growth of another.

The word “mother” is a verb. An action. There’s no complacency in motherhood.

I recently attended a parenting seminar in which the presenter shared a startling, though not surprising fact. Mothers make 35,000 decisions a day.

No wonder we’re tired.

And that’s just the decisions. Who knows how many questions we answer and how many tasks we complete in a 24 hour period? We couldn’t keep count.

Yet.

Would any of us hang up the massive role as a mother? If we knew then what we know now, would be still choose motherhood?

I have a feeling your answer is the same as mine: without a question.

Because with every opportunity to be a nurse, we also get the chance to nurture. With every counseling session, we are given the opportunity to connect with our children at the heart level. With every errand we run, with every meal we cook, with every toilet we clean and with every birthday party we plan, we have the power to serve our families in a way that only we can.

Mothers build-up and construct one brick at a time.

But let’s all be real for a moment: it’s a thankless job, isn’t it?

Now and then I get a “thank you” for dinner but admittedly, it’s not nightly. Every so often my children notice their laundry has been cleaned, dried, folded and put-away. And now and then, I hear a “thank you” after a forgotten lunch box has been delivered.

If you seek to gain recognition as a mother, you’ll lose gratitude, latitude and magnitude.

In other words, when we constantly desire a pat on the back, we’ll become ungrateful for what we’ve been given. When this happens, we feel lost and when we’re lost, we’re less likely to make much of an impact. Gratitude. Latitude. Magnitude.

It’s only when we place our identity in the one who gave it to us in the first place that we can truly release the need to be defined by what we do rather than who we are.

Though it’s true we make an impossible amount of decisions and answer a myriad of questions each day, our roles as mothers don’t define who we are.

Those are things we “do” because we love.

But those things we “do” can truly be done in love, even without recognition, when we understand that God names who we are and not our families.

Mama, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Knit together in your own mother’s womb. You are His. You are loved with an everlasting love. You are known so well that God knows how many hairs are on your head.

This is who you are.

So, yes, I’m a mom and so honored to be one.

But first and foremost, I am loved by the Most High King.

And so are you.

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Welcome to our family of Lifetree Family bloggers, Natalie Snapp! Natalie's blog, Life Just South of Perfect, is one of our all-time favorite blogs! You can read more about Natalie's story on her blog, and she'll be writing regularly for our Lifetree Family blog sharing her wisdom and encouragement on motherhood, marriage, friendship and faith!