A silent gift of sorts, one that goes mostly unnoticed. It does have its own holiday though, that’s kind of cool. Mom, the word itself – mother means to bring up a child with care and affection. God gave some people the gift of being a mom. It’s really incredible to be alongside some of those special people. It’s beautiful to watch teammates love on children and allow children to take hold of their hearts.
It’s a gift that I wouldn’t really say I naturally have. Kids take a lot of work and I also don’t like the thought of giving them a piece of my heart. I know when those kids grow up they’ll leave or in my case here, I’ll leave and I won’t get to watch them bloom into the beautiful creation God has called them to be. A piece of my heart is too large a portion with such risky circumstances. But God always has a way of showing me His goals are much better and higher than mine.
Here’s the story; I was feeling kind of sick and achey on the way home from Zimbabwe after visiting Victoria Falls, super beautiful 10/10 would recommend, I hadn’t gotten hardly any sleep on the bus because I felt so sick. I spent a good amount of time praying to God for some relief to sleep, also spent a good amount of time crying because everyone around me was asleep and I was really friggen jealous. Everything was in pain, even down to my arm hair. Whatever grabbed hold of my immune system wasn’t playing games, I was out here strugglin. Then, a lady comes and stands by my seat. Literally this had to be divine intervention. I’m sitting there trying not to throw a fit because the child on her back is kicking me and I’m ready to scream. I’m throwing in the towel. Moms I don’t know how you ever deal with being sick and having children. Shout out to you. I head up the aisle to ask a teammate if I could possibly switch seats with her to try to get some rest and she kindly agrees. Thanks pal, I’ll always remember this moment. So I jump in her seat and lean my head back hopeful for a moment of rest then here comes five year old Jennifer. climbing into my lap. Dear God, why?!?! She just sat there for a while and played with my fingers, counted to ten, thankfully she didn’t really talk so I didn’t have to say much. God must of known how badly I desired rest and lil Jennifer fell asleep on my lap with her head on my chest. I leaned my head back and slept for at least an hour. It was heavenly. Thanks God for that beautiful hour. I woke up with thoughts wildly dancing in my brain “God made mothers for bus rides like this” “God made mothers for sick children” “God gave the gift of a mom to show how much He loves and desires you”. I don’t know where Jennifer’s mom was. I don’t even know if her mom was on the bus but what I do know is that Jennifer ended up sleeping on my lap for 3 hours and took a lil piece of my heart when she got off.
To my mom, thanks for all you do. Thanks for never taking a sick day. Thanks for staying at home to take care of Toby, Jacob, and I. Thanks for loving me unconditionally and so selflessly. Thanks for always putting us first. Thanks for being an example of the love Christ has for his children. I love you forever. You are my sunshine. I miss you a lot but will forever be thankful for the opportunity you were obedient to the Lord and allowed me to come here to experience love and the gift you have of giving a piece of your heart wherever you go.
