It's amazing how you can actually feel your heart expanding inside of you. Just when you think it will explode with love, the heart stretches in a way you can not understand, allowing just a little more to trickle in.
Everyone told me that I would be overwhelmed with "maternal love" the moment my child was born. They told me that motherhood would be amazing, and that from the minute I locked eyes on my baby that my world would never be the same. To be honest I had my doubts. It wasn't that I didn't believe them, or that I didn't fall in love with my child more and more every day that he grew inside of me. I just couldn't even begin to comprehend the depth of a mother's love. It wasn't tactile enough. It couldn't be put into song or a painting on canvas. No one could capture it on paper or explain it with words. So, to me, it was this mysterious piece of my future that I trusted would be there when I needed it.
Everyone was right, of course. Even after three days of labor cumulating to the point of utter exhaustion, the moment I saw my baby boy I understood what everyone was talking about. There really is no limit to our ability to love, and I'm learning that the heart of a mother holds the most intense kind of love there is. It's raw and emotional, and really, it starts from the very minute you find out your pregnant and only grows stronger and stronger with every hour, and every day. But what makes it so different? What sets it apart?
Perhaps it's because of the fact that at it's foundation- at it's core- at the base of a mother's love is sacrifice. Certainly all true love must value and a practice the "art of sacrifice" in order to thrive, but this characteristic is often most evident when considering the love of a mother. Just look at the activities which envelop the first few years of a new mother's life: pregnancy, labor, breast feeding. All of these things require a tremendous amount of self sacrifice, and they act as fuel for the fire of intense love. It's the kind of love that Christ has for us. The kind of love that is willing to put your greatest treasures into another human being. When you do that, you can't help but love intensely. I think that Matthew said it perfectly when he wrote, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)
Perhaps it's because of the fact that at it's foundation- at it's core- at the base of a mother's love is sacrifice. Certainly all true love must value and a practice the "art of sacrifice" in order to thrive, but this characteristic is often most evident when considering the love of a mother. Just look at the activities which envelop the first few years of a new mother's life: pregnancy, labor, breast feeding. All of these things require a tremendous amount of self sacrifice, and they act as fuel for the fire of intense love. It's the kind of love that Christ has for us. The kind of love that is willing to put your greatest treasures into another human being. When you do that, you can't help but love intensely. I think that Matthew said it perfectly when he wrote, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)
Judah used his cell phone to snap this picture of me and Solomon just moments after he was born. It has become one of my all time favorite pictures because it so encapsulates exactly how I was feeling at that moment.
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