A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

Today is Zack's birthday. I've always liked that it falls so close to Mother's Day because I am doubly reminded of what a blessing he is to me.  A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about how being a mom has provided me with just a glimpse of what it means to be a beloved child of God, and I thought I'd share it with you today.

From Good andPerfect Gifts, 5/13/10

This past week marked the celebration of both Mother's Day and my son's birthday. Any attempt to describe what a blessing my son is to me would wear out my keyboard and deplete my vocabulary, so I'm not even going to try. However, one of the blessings of parenthood is that it gives us a better understanding of God's love for us. Through Christ, we are God's beloved children, and our love for our children gives us a taste of the immensity, depth, and steadfast nature of God's love for us.

My love for Zack is unchangeable and unwavering. No amount of disobedience, failure, foolishness, or mistakes will ever diminish my love for him. And though I cheer him on through triumphs and am pleased when he makes the right choices, neither of those things make me love him any more, because I love him all the time, just the same.

I rejoice when he rejoices, and my heart aches for him when he is anxious or sad. I enjoy being with him, laughing with him, and watching him master new skills and ideas. I do my best to help him discover his God-given talents and encourage him to pursue and develop them. I want to know what's on his heart and mind—good or bad. I can appreciate the position expressed in Isaiah 49:25, "I will contend with those that contend with you."

It brings me great pleasure to make him happy and fulfill his wishes, and yet I often withhold seemingly good things he wants because I know they won't be good for him in the long run. In short, his welfare, his growth, and his future are always in the forefront of my mind. Sometimes that means I have to discipline him, disappoint him, or insist he do things he'd rather not…and often he doesn't appreciate or understand why because he is unable to see the big picture.

Of course, my love for Zack can only provide me with an imperfect image of a perfect God's perfect love, but it's still a good gift.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" -1 John 3:1a