Having just celebrated Mother’s Day, my heart is full with having shared a lovely day with my husband and two kids (ages 15 and 20). Burgers on the grill, playing a game of Hearts on the deck and blowing bubbles was on the agenda, and I managed to enjoy all of them. (I like to think of myself as low-maintenance). I am grateful that I have my heart’s desire of a wonderful husband and 2 great children. But let’s just say, parenting isn’t for sissies, as many of my friends and clients will agree.
I heard a great sermon on Mother’s Day morning at Christian Fellowship Church in Crystal Lake, IL-with Pastor Kent Atkinson and his lovely wife Pam co-teaching together (I love that). While the Judeo-Christian faiths teach of Father God, I love the perspective of the Mother Heart of God that Kent and Pam brought. So credit goes to them; the concepts rang true for me. I thought this accurately reflect what happens in a mama’s heart for their children.
A Mother’s Heart shows comfort, protective love and tenacious love.
- Comfort
Pam said she recalls coming home from college and having such a feeling of comfort from her mom’s presence and care for her. There was a sense of safety; her mom showed acts of care for her and the family, and she did things that built an atmosphere of comfort in the home and family. Moms can create these things out of their love for their children. The comfort that is experienced can then be brought to the people and the world that their children live in.
2. Protective Love
Moms carry a quality of “never give up hope” with their kids. Even amid difficulties and times of frustration or doubt, moms can be “relentlessly faithful“. She desires to fearlessly preserve her children-both physically and emotionally/mentally. The vision of a mother bear protecting her cub at all costs comes to mind. DO NOT MAKE THE MAMA MAD and DO NOT MESS WITH MY KID! Maternal love can act before thinking, for the drive to protect our kids is automatic. My son is amused that in a parking lot when a car drives in front of us, I still put out my arm in front of him to protect him (shrimpy me with my 200 pound football son. I will smash the car that would hurt him!)
3. Tenacious Love
I love the word tenacity. Not letting go. Pam gave examples of moms who showed tenacity. This aspect of maternal love is fiercely determined, not prone to letting go. A fixed focus causes us moms to hold onto what we see as good and right for our kids. I love these 2 concepts: champion of the cause and advocate. This is where a mother’s love will show that she is the cheerleader, speaking up and paving the way for her kids, and she will step up to help them do and attain what she sees as best for her kids.
The intent in mothering is that we have the children’s best interest at heart, and in my life, this is guided by the values of God’s best for my kids. (For the children with moms that don ‘t do so good in this arena, or are selfish or wounded…that is another post, and may lead you to call for counseling!)
Lastly, for those whose moms are gone or aren’t able to provide the qualities above to their kids, a woman who steps into our lives as a mentor mom or sister can fulfill these roles. So the maternal love can be carried by women not our moms, to come alongside us to help us do life well. The mother’s heart for other women continues to build up women in our lives as our “daughters and sisters of the heart”.
With my mom now gone over 5 years, I see there is no one like a mom who thinks about you and champions you. I’m glad I am a mom, and I am so thankful for those in my life who currently give me a nurturing, mothering heart. And yes-that is my dear daughter in that picture above. May I provide for her, and the other women in my life, the tender and fierce love of a mother’s heart.