Motherhood and the Unconditional Love of Christ
Happy Mother’s Day! In preparation for mother’s day, I asked a friend to write about becoming a new mom & what she learned about Christ’s love in the process. If you’re a mom, I pray you feel loved today. If mother’s day brings up tough memories, I pray you find strength in knowing God is a good Dad. If you are wondering whether or not your mom loves you, she does. And always will.
When they pressed his soft, vulnerable body against my chest—this boy, my boy—I cried. He was the most wonderful thing I’d ever seen, ever held, and he was mine.
He’d done nothing—nothing at all—but need me. My heart ached for him when I saw him ache for me, his arms flailing aimlessly through the air.
In my son, I see myself: aimless, frightened, helpless. Miraculously, Christ saw me, vulnerable, and cradled me. You cannot help yourself, He whispered softly, my heart stirring—wakening—with love for the Savior. Come to me. I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). My body went limp in His safe, loving arms.
I’d been claimed.
In motherhood, I see so many reminders of Christ’s unconditional love for me. My son can’t walk, so I carry him. I nourish him when his body aches with hunger. I draw his sobbing, heaving body close to mine when he is afraid. In him, I see someone whose existence cries out with need.
He doesn’t see his own need, his own longing—he only feels separation. But I see it, comforting him, claiming him. I’m here. I’m with you.
My Savior promises: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
He stills our flailing, grasping arms and places them around His neck. Be not dismayed, He whispers. For I am your God!
Heather Cadenhead is a wife, mother, and writer. She blogs about faith and first-time parenthood at www.thencomesmercy.com.
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