Motherhood

Nothing has stretched me, humbled me, and filled me quite like motherhood. The day I first held my child, I understood in a new way the love of God — a love so fierce and so tender that you would gladly give your own life for theirs. From that moment, I was no longer the center of my own story.

Motherhood is the great teacher of selflessness. It teaches you to pray like never before, because suddenly there are lives in your hands that you cannot control. It teaches you to trust God like never before, because you discover quickly that you cannot be enough on your own. And it teaches you to love like never before — a love that is tired and still shows up, that is overwhelmed and still chooses, that is imperfect and still faithful.

I have made mistakes. Every mother does. There were days I was too busy, too short-tempered, too distracted by the demands of life to notice the small moments that mattered most. But I have also learned that God's grace covers a mother's gaps. He parents the children of parents. He fills in what we cannot. And He redeems the seasons we wish we could live over.

Now, watching my children raise children of their own, I see the seeds we planted bearing fruit we did not plan. The prayers we whispered over their beds took root. The faith we modeled in the kitchen became the faith they carry into their own homes. Motherhood is a long obedience, and its harvest often comes long after the planting.

To every mother reading this — whether you are in the exhausted early years or the quieter later ones — keep going. The work you are doing is holy. The prayers you are praying are heard. And the love you are pouring into those children is building something eternal, even on the days you cannot see it.