Mother Love

Mother Love caught me by surprise.  It's not that I've had any problem loving my children.  No, that has never, never been an issue for me.  I love those boys from a deeper spot in my heart than I knew existed twenty years ago, when the seed of Mother Love was planted there.  My boys, once so tiny and vulnerable, so in need of my love and care, are moving into manhood, and I love them more now than when they first entered our lives.

It's not the experience of Mother Love that was unexpected.  It's the intensity and the longevity of it.

I've heard my friends whose children are grown and on their own talk about their kids; I've seen the softness in their smiles, the wistful look in their eyes.  I've listened as they talk about ways they support their kids and share their accomplishments with me, and as they cry over their kids' needs.  I've heard them speak with tenderness, even when those grown children have disappointed.  Mother Love seems to have no expiration date.

There have even been times when I, a very grown child, have looked up and seen my mom looking at me, gazing on me with a light in her eyes and a soft smile on her lips.  It was Mother Love I saw on her face.  I'm almost 60 years old, yet still today she loves me as deeply as I love my children.  I am stunned.

Mother Love.  It is among God's greatest gifts to our world.

Painting by Walter Langley, public domain