After 25 years of parenting, the only thing I know for sure is that love is everything. As mommas, life can be exhausting and exhilarating, impossible and inspiring, awful and amazing--all at the same time.

Some days we feel like we can do nothing right as moms no matter how hard we try. But if we are choosing to love, then we cannot fail. Love covers a multitude of mishap and truly is the shape of our calling:

It fills up our entire being from the moment mom becomes our calling

It conforms to the nuances of every age, stage, and milestone

It filters through our veins, enabling us to push through our exhaustion

It bends in the wind of cutting remarks and hormonal outbursts

It expands to embrace the pain of every trial and the joy of every triumph

It settles into the cracks and crevices created by disappointments and regrets

It cascades into the empty spaces when our kids are gone or withdrawn

It stretches across time and space, knowing no bounds

It is an all-consuming container holding the air we breathe

As I've journeyed along this ever-shifting road of raising kids, I've come to learn that love is the shape of everything.

We'll see it when we believe it.

Children are good at this.

If you are dealing with all kinds of momma emotions, download 3 FREE Chapters of Shelby's new book with Lisa Leshaw, How Are You Feeling, Momma? (You don't need to say, "I'm fine.")