Mother's Day

(A couple weeks ago our pastor asked me to say a few words about our adoption, in case there were people in the church that didn't know yet. Being the type of person I am, I took the liberty of rambling on for quite awhile because it was Mother's Day. This was what I read in church Sunday. I cut out the first paragraph because it was introducing Talitha and the adoption and you people already know that. Here's the rest):

When I was 6 years old, I ran away from home. After about 10 minutes, I got tired of walking and came back home. My mom was waiting for me with hot chocolate already made.

My mom wrote notes of encouragement in my lunch box. One she had a card delivered to my eighth grade math class before a big test. I bombed the test anyway but still, it was a nice thought.

My mom sang lullabies as she wiped my feverish brow with a cool cloth in the middle of the night.

My mom cried tears of joy when she held my first born for the first time.

She often tells me what an amazing mother I am, even though I often don’t believe her. She tells me even though I’ve heard a shrill “Mama!” for the 20^th time in 5 minutes and I can’t find the aspirin and Noah shrieking sounds like a pterodactyl being boiled in oil. Even when the bikes have been left in the yard again and I lose my patience. Even when I get asked questions like “Will the sun become a black hole and suck us all in and we’d all die?” and I reassure my son with an answer like “Oh honey, we’d all freeze to death long before that.” Even when someone (me) has left the peanut butter jar out again and Noah has not only eaten it in huge handfuls but has smeared it all over himself and I think “Forget the Klondike Bar, what would I do for a margarita right now?” Even at those times, she still tells me often what a good mother she thinks I am.

I hope to become like her a little bit more every day.

A mother’s love is no ordinary thing. When I held Jack as an infant, I felt that wave of love wash over me and I realized with astonishment that this must be how my parents love me and I finally understood it. A mother’s love is strong. It is fierce and determined. It cheers for every homerun and holds us up through the deep valleys of disappointment. A mother’s love goes before the throne of grace for us. A mother’s love is steadfast in the face of failure. It never gives up the good fight. A mother’s love is nothing if not exceedingly hopeful.

I have never met my youngest daughter. And yet I love her with a mother’s love. This day will be even sweeter for me next year. An orphan once left alone will be a beloved daughter, held up by the strength of her mother’s love. Despair will have given way to hope. And I will teach her of the God who has kept her safe in the cleft of the rock and has loved her all this time with an everlasting kindness.

Please pray for her and our family as we travel the long road of adoption. Hug your children today and thank God for the women in our lives who live out his love so well. Happy Mother’s Day.