It was happening again. The TSA guy at the Nashville airport was giving me the eye. Not because I looked suspicious but because I was crying. Again. You know that ugly cry that has people wondering if your being abused or taken against your will. Actually, for me it felt like both. I was about to board a plane that would separate me from two of my adult kids by hundreds of miles. I knew I shouldn’t be crying. They are both happy and flourishing in God’s plan for them. I knew I would see them very soon. And I knew I couldn’t stop crying. Ugh. I wish I could get better at leaving them but I fail every time at pulling off a cheery goodbye.
If you’re a mom you get it.
You might even get a lump in your throat just reading my intro. You get it because mothers are connected to their children in a miraculous way. Perhaps God knew how much love and work it would take to be a mother. Perhaps He knew about the constant laying aside of her own life a woman would sacrifice for her children to be able to live their own. But I think He chose mothers for a great purpose. Motherhood reveals to the world a part of God, His tenderness and His love that could never be displayed if there were no mothers.
God embedded a mystery inside a woman that mirrors His loving care of His own children. What a privilege to represent God in such a special way.
If you’re a mom you get it.
Did you know that from the beginning God created motherhood to be pain free and void of tears? But because of the Eve’s fall in the garden, the curse of “pain in childbirth” entered and still exists today.
However, God is a good God and although there is pain He has lavished motherhood with a joy/pain/pride combo that sustains us all throughout our mothering.
If you’re a mother you may recognize some of these:
The sorrow of miscarriage ends in the joy birth.
The defeat of infertility gives way to the exhilaration of adoption.
After 9 months we can’t wait to give birth. Only to discover that having our baby in another room makes us uneasy.
The excitement of the first day of kindergarten crumbs as our “super hero backpack” boy walks into a classroom and the doors shut and we can’t see him.
Tears of pride run as our child crosses a hard earned finish line after years of frustration just getting them to practice.
A new season begins as the thrill of a college found produces tears of where did the time go.
And then the joyful watershed of understanding as your child looks at you with new eyes as she holds her first child.
She’s a mom now and so she gets it.
It’s a hard thing to explain how a mother’s tears can flow with joy, pride and pain all at the same time. It’s just the way it is… Mom’s cry and sometimes they just can’t explain it. And whether they are the silent streams running down her face, or the gushing Kleenex blowing kind. One thing is for sure. A mother’s tears speak volumes about the deep love she carries in her heart for her children. A God placed love that only He and they understand.
And if you’re a mom you get it.
Girl, go ahead and cry if you want to. It’s ok if people are puzzled and wonder why. They may not understand this God created mystery called motherhood.
May I suggest that you just embrace the tenderness that God placed in your heart? Counting it as a beautiful gift from God.
So, go ahead grab a tube of waterproof mascara and a pretty box of Kleenex and let those mom tears flow. Oh and when you see another mom tearing up, hand her a few tissues and offer a knowing glance because…
You’re a mom and you get it.