Motherhood: Beautifully Crafted

Have you ever thought about how beautiful a mother’s love is? We love our children so deeply and so freely. It’s a love that never seems challenged or difficult or forced. We love them so much that sometimes it quite literally hurts. It’s a love so beautifully and amazingly designed, that only an almighty God could have crafted it.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”

Jeremiah 1:5

I remember when Carter, my oldest child, was a little bitty baby; maybe two weeks old. I sat and rocked him as he slept and wondered how on earth my heart could possibly hold all of the love that I felt for him. I knew that I would drop everything and go anywhere if he needed me to. I would cross oceans and climb mountains to protect him and care for him. I sat there in my rocking chair and sobbed. In that moment I realized that the overwhelming love that I felt for this little boy was nothing compared to God’s love for him.

I am sure that a lot of who I am as a mother stems from what I observed from my own mother growing up. She was always loving and caring, she was patient and kind and helpful. She modeled a great love for Jesus and taught me to serve others. It makes sense that I would now model these same attributes for my own children because I have been on the receiving end of them.

“The impression that a praying mother leaves upon her children is life-long.”

D.L. Moody

But what happens when someone was never on the receiving end of a mother’s love? Are they rendered incapable of loving their own children? Knowing what an awesome God we serve, I think that the obvious answer is no.

My great grandma was the perfect example of this. She was never on the receiving end of a mother’s love. In fact, she experienced the exact opposite, being abused by her mother her entire childhood. The story doesn’t end here, though. She eventually got married and had children of her own. My grandpa and his sister still talk about what an amazing mother she was to them. They never questioned or had any doubt at all whether their mother loved them. The love and care that she gave her children was never modeled for her. She didn’t take “mom lessons” or read books to figure it out, she just stepped into her God-given purpose in motherhood and loved her children well.

Even when a mother doesn’t live up to her calling, God is faithful to care for her children. His grace is sufficient for them, and He is still able to work through them, even when they have been neglected by someone who should have been a loving presence. Additionally, God can still work through us as mothers, even when we stumble and fail, and our journeys don’t look the way we dreamed they would. He still gives us every opportunity to raise our children to know Him. We are granted God’s grace when we make mistakes, just as we should give our children grace through theirs. At the end of the day, we are all still children of the One True King.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

Isaiah 49:15

The love of a mother is shown to us all through the Bible. Mary the mother of Jesus, Hannah the mother of Samuel, Jochebed the mother of Moses, and many others. All of these are beautiful examples of tender care, and stewarding our children well, knowing that they first and foremost belong to God. Motherhood truly is such an amazing honor and gift that God has called us to. We get to be the gate-keepers of our children: to protect them, love them, teach them, serve them and grow along with them in grace and wisdom.

“Train a child up in the way he should go; and even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

I think it’s a common misconception in today’s society that all of a woman’s freedom ends when motherhood begins. If we approach motherhood from a Biblical point of view, what greater task have we been given, than to be entrusted with raising our children to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world? As mothers, aren’t we called to display love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control towards our children? Sharing these things with our children allows us all to draw closer to Jesus. What better freedom is there than being free from the chains of sin and helping our children do the same.

“You are as much serving God in training your own children, as you would be if you lead an army to battle for the Lord.”

C.H. Spurgeon

Let the goodness of God shine in the way that you approach the hard things. The next time that you find yourself struggling with the tantrums, attitudes, sleepless nights, and hard conversations that come along with the responsibility of motherhood, I encourage you to consider the grace that our Savior has shown you, and lean into it. Allow His example of grace to guide your responses. Then model it for your children. Remember that God’s grace is sufficient for you, take one thing at a time, and do all things with love. So snuggle those kiddos, hold them tight, and pray for them daily. Motherhood is an honor and a privilege; it is a beautiful gift to you. His mercies are new every day and in Him, there is forgiveness, grace and growing.

Galatians 6:9