Motherhood is a Gift

An infant’s earnest gaze
The giggling feet of a baby in a high chair about to be fed
The enthusiasm of little red boots joining me for a hike
The sweetness of a toy hammer hanging from a bedpost
A stroller bumping over “all the rugged way”
Reading every picture book in the library
Tiny carts rumbling at the grocery store
Tuna fish with veggies hidden inside
Finger painting, frosting cookies
Wet “water work” at the sink
Whittling walking sticks
Latin flashcards
Exploring together
Learning how to learn…

Someone to make fairy houses with
Someone to sing loudly in the car with
Someone to go camping with for weeks at a time
Someone to dance to Ella Fitzgerald with on a sunny day

Someone to blow bubbles with
Someone to fill your house with noise
Someone to buy lost teeth from for a dollar
Someone to insist you join Facebook and Twitter

a dependent someone to help become independent…

Getting to be there
(more than mere spawning)
is a deep witnessing
requiring time and attention…

More involving than a spectator sport
requiring cheering
and steadfast support even through losing streaks
More volatile than a stock market investment
requiring plenty of money,
patient faith, and a willingness to risk
More riveting than a thriller
requiring honest hope
way beyond all evidence
More sanctifying than a cathedral
requiring a covenant
with both the Creator and the future…

An experience at once so generic and unique.

I like who they are becoming
I’m so grateful to and for them
I’m loving them so much
And emancipate them
to their own choices…

Motherhood is a gift
we keep,
but mostly one
we give away.