On September 29, 2024, what would have been my mother’s 64th birthday, I found myself standing at her kitchen sink, washing and chopping fruits and vegetables—just like she had done thousands of times before.
Thousands.
As I set the plate down between my two little ones, I thought of the meals and snack trays she had prepared over her 40 years of motherhood. Even when we were grown, we would still come back and sit at the table to eat a meal she had prepared.
What did you imagine when you dreamed of motherhood? Did you think it would be 40 years (or a lifetime) of service? Did you only imagine rocking or strolling a newborn, or taking a cute toddler to the soccer field? What did you really think you were in for—and is it what you expected?
image credit: workplay branding
I wish we were sitting across from each other right now, a cup of coffee in hand, and you could share your thoughts. I’m so deep in it at this point, I can't remember exactly what I thought motherhood would be. Yet I can tell you—it’s not what I thought.
It’s a lot messier. A LOT messier.
Way more crying—way, way, WAY more meal preparation, planning, shopping, cleaning—and so many more diapers than I could have imagined.
It looks a whole lot like service. Whether you love it or hate it, you are serving most of the time as a mother.
Yet, if I had to define motherhood in just one word: it’s love. It's both the verb of love and the feeling—more than you can imagine.
And you know what else is love?
God.
God is love. Motherhood is love. Perhaps God created motherhood to sanctify us, to teach us how to love, to show us how much He loves us, and to give us just a tiny insight into how vast His love really is.
Now, when I think of all the things I do in a day to care for my children, I think of how many millions of opportunities over this life I will have to demonstrate the love of God:
What if I brushed tiny teeth as an act of love?
What if I prepared meals as an act of love?
What if I cleaned high chairs as an act of love?
What if, instead of grumbling about the never-ending tasks, I thanked God for loving me and for giving me these blessings to love?
And then—what if I went and did that, over and over, thousands and thousands of times?
I wouldn’t be cutting fruit and vegetables anymore. I would be building a legacy of love—one that would shine well past my own lifetime, into my grandchildren’s and beyond—just like my mother did.
Reflection: How has motherhood sanctified you? What ‘acts of love’ are you embracing today?
Meditation: Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”