This is where my thoughts go on Mother’s Day. I have had a life full of adventure and milestones that should satisfy most people. I have loved and been loved well, and my cup is full. But the thing that I think is the most amazing, that rises in me over and over when I think about my motherhood, is how close I feel to God in that. I am quite certain that there is no other human experience that rivals pregnancy, labour, and the birth of a child, and how connected to God a woman is in that experience.
It is in this experience that we sense most the wonder of creating, the miracle of life, and the toil of self-giving love for the sake of another! And therein lies the most intimate and immediate sense of how God must feel about what has been created.
I used to think that women got the short end of the stick in the Garden of Eden, when they found out that labour was going to be painful, while the men had to work and toil all their lives (which consequently, the women had to do as well!). But we were given a huge gift there in the Garden as women. We were given a seat right beside God that allowed us to feel deeply just how wondrous it is to be part of creating your own likeness, and how patient one needs to be in waiting for the arrival of a child, and the willingness to go through pain and great effort to bring about a promise.
There is nothing I would trade for the experience I have had of bringing life into this world and being a mom. Mother’s Day for me is my reminder to thank God for giving me the gift of being able to bear life, and how intimately I am connected with God by it.
Comments