Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Mothers (05/02/05)
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TITLE: A Mother's Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Babs Oden
05/08/05 -
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NIV – But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19
Mary took in all that was going on around her. The baby that the angel of the Lord had promised her was now wrapped tightly in a blanket, snuggled up to the warmth of her body. Children sang and rejoiced. Wise men and shepards stood side by side in awe at the gift that was no more than 20 inches long, but was known now as Messiah. Mary held tight to every moment. She drank in the sweetness of the night. She closed her eyes and let the fragrance of her child tickle her nose. As baby Jesus drifted off to sleep, Mary began to hum sweetly. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she forced the thoughts away of what was to eventually come for this Child. She only wanted to revel in the moment – in the quiet of the starry night. She wanted to allow her heart time to capture each moment, each sensation. Mary didn’t want to think about the rejection her Son would know some day soon. She didn’t want to dwell on the tireless journey He would make for the sake of others – leaving her months and even years at a time. She simply wanted this moment for herself. She knew that someday she would draw from these treasures she was storing in her heart.
Skip ahead a couple thousand years. For many of us, Luke 2:19 has taken on a whole new meaning. This is the time of year many of us moms draw from the treasures in our hearts as we prepare to send our kids off to college for the first time.
I am convinced that mothers are wired in such a way that our hearts have a digital camera – thank goodness! I’ve replayed and pondered my son’s birth, those early days we spent getting acquainted, and those incredible first steps. I don’t need the pictures in the album. I don’t need a movie in the VCR. All that is needed is my mother’s heart. I shut my eyes and my mother’s heart brings back the scent of baby powder and the feel of footy pajamas. I hum ever so slightly and the familiar made-up lullaby still comes to mind. I praise God for my mother’s heart…just as I know Mary did so many years ago.
Mary’s life is an example to all mothers. Though we don’t see her much in scripture, we know she was a silent influence. We know she worried about her Child. Most importantly, we know she guided Him to be all He was destined to be – even while knowing it meant she’d not have Him within hugging distance forever. Mary tirelessly saw her job as mother to completion. She was a strong, selfless woman.
It is only a matter of time when our kids will no longer live under our roofs or eat at our tables or count on us to know where their socks are located this week. It is only a matter of time when they will be in their dorms making new friends and deciding what they will be when they grow up. Then they will graduate, buy a home, get married, have kids…wow, I have to catch my breath!
As mothers, we’ve been given the most precious job of our lives. In some ways it is ending and in other ways it is just getting started. Like Mary, we have to be dedicated to do our jobs as mothers to completion. We have to see our kids through the next season of their lives – all the while remembering that though we gave them life, it is now time to let them live it as young adults. We can rest easy knowing that, come August, we will not be alone. Mothers all around the world will be rewinding their mother’s hearts as the fall semester kicks off. We’ll be rewinding to reminisce and then hitting “record” as we move on – storing up new treasures.
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