A Mother Is...

Our church had a Mother's Day Tea on Saturday. The theme was "Pictures of a Mother". I was asked, along with three others of different ages and from different stages in life, to share, from my perspective. Here's what I was on my heart.

 

A mother is one who’s soul has been pierced by love.

 

Whether you have carried a child in your womb, raised a child, or both, you know this to be true.  When you become a mother, you are gifted with the gift of love for your child. 

 

I experienced this love for the first time during my pregnancy with Joshua, when I first felt him move in my womb.  I was struck by a love that I had for this tiny little being, whom I had not even met.  Then, after he was born, although he had already passed away when I held him in my arms, I experienced this love on a deeper level still.  As I held my son, and gazed into his face, I was overwhelmed by a love beyond anything I could have ever imagined.  I was suddenly filled with this intense, overflowing affection for my child.

 

However, as I came home from the hospital without him, and my arms felt empty, I did not know what to do with that love, as the object of that love was gone.  I couldn’t seem to find a place for it.  “Where could all that mother’s love now go?” I asked myself.  And my heart was overcome with grief.

 

We see in Mary, Jesus’ mother, the perfect example of a mother whose soul was pierced by love.  In Luke 2, when Jesus’ parents are at the temple Simeon blesses them and then says to Mary “a sword will pierce through your own soul”.  Mary’s soul was pierced by the sword of love, as she watched her son suffer at the hands of sinners and be nailed to the cross.

 

Although you may or may not have experienced the loss of a child, if you are a mother, you know what that love is, which I am talking about.  And because you have such a great love for your children, you grieve for them when they make choices which are not honoring to God, or when they choose to walk away from the truth, for example.  In the small things, and in the big things, your heart grieves, because you love.

 

Because Mary loved much, she grieved much, but she was also most blessed among women.  Although my heart was broken when we lost our son, I am more blessed today for having carried him during that brief time.  The Lord did an amazing work in my life last year through the loss of Joshua.  In the midst of my grief and pain, he drew me closer to himself.  I am a different woman today, because I had the privilege of carrying and loving Joshua.  I am so grateful for that opportunity.  It cost me much, but I have been so blessed because of it. 

 

When you grieve for your children, remember that that grief is there because of your great love for them, and although it may be painful, trust that you are blessed.

A mother is one who’s soul has been pierced by love.