A Mother’s Love

Mother’s Day is a time we remember those women who have carried us and held us, who have raised us and taught us, who have nurtured us and encouraged us in ways only a mother can. God has graciously blessed us with this special kind of love from our mothers and it is a metaphor for His mother heart toward us as well.

The Lord said, ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me’.  Isaiah 49:15-16

As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you.  Isaiah 66:13

Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, ‘How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.’ Matthew 23:37

Becoming a mother myself has helped me understand even further God’s heart and His love for me.  When I think of Him in these terms, I know that He loves and accepts me because I am His child, not because of what I’ve done for Him, how good I’ve been, or what I have given Him, just as I love and accept my own children no matter what.

“My children have been the joy of my life. I cannot imagine more exquisite bliss than comes to one sometimes in the possession and companionship of a child. To me there have been moments, when my arms have been around my children, that have seemed more like what the bliss of heaven must be than any other thing I can conceive of; and I think this feeling has taught me more of what God’s feelings towards his children are than anything else in the universe. If I, a human being with limited capacity, can find such joy in my children, what must God, with his infinite heart of love, feel towards his; In fact most of my ideas of the love and goodness of God have come from my own experience as a mother, because I could not conceive that God would create me with a greater capacity for unselfishness and self-sacrifice than He possessed Himself; and since this discovery of the mother heart of God I have always been able to answer every doubt that may have arisen in my mind, as to the extent and quality of the love of God, by simply looking at my own feelings as a mother.”  Hannah Whitall Smith

Thank you, Mom, for loving me unconditionally, especially during the times when I wasn’t very lovable (my teen years). Thank you for sacrificing your time and energy for me and putting my needs above your own (like when you slept on the floor in the hotel while I slept on the bed).  Thank you for listening to me when I needed to be heard and for getting excited about the things that interested me.  Thank you for being my biggest fan (like at track meets and science fairs).  Thank you for feeding me delicious, healthy food and taking care of me when I was sick.   Thank you for being a patient teacher and for forgiving me over and over again when I disobeyed or messed up.   Thank you for believing in me and letting me spread my wings and fly out of your nest.  Thank you for keeping your nest so cozy for when I fly back for a visit.   Thank you for showing me how to be a good mother to my own children and for being such an awesome grandma to them.   I love you!

Thank you, Nana, for raising my wonderful husband so well.  Thank you for teaching him loyalty, kindness, faithfulness, generosity and respect for others – he truly is an exceptional husband, especially in these areas.   Thank you for welcoming me into the family with open arms and helping me to feel like a daughter (not just a daughter-in-law).  Thank you for the love you have shown Bethany, Joshua, and Jonathan – you are a fabulous mother-in-law and Nana!

Thank you, Bethany, Joshua, and Jonathan, for being my babies!  I know and love the Lord better and more because of you.  I cherish the memories I have of when you were little and I would cuddle and rock you, sing to you, and pray over you. (I look forward to doing it with your children some day).  I have made mistakes along the way but you have been quick to forgive me.   My life is richer and better because of you.  I have so many sweet memories of talking as we went on walks together and as I tucked you in at night; playing games and making up silly words and stories; worshiping the Lord at church and at home; and traveling the world together. I love you all and I love being your mom!