“Many of us have the blessed privilege of being at the same time mother and child, able to let the one interpret the other to us until our understanding of both is full and rich.”-Laura Ingalls WIilder

On the first day of May, our family welcomed a new little one into the circle of family.   I watched my first grandson emerge into this world through the tears and pain of his mama.  The epidural that was suppose to help with the pain didn’t kick in until he was ready to come into this world.  This daughter of mine, who as a child cried for hours over a bee sting, showed amazing strength and endurance in labor. The struggle was hard, the pain was intense…and then there he was, a baby boy!  A big baby boy, 9 lbs 11 oz and 22 inches long.  He emerged from the womb blue and not quite able to get his breath. The birth into this world had been a quick one, but not an easy one for mother and baby.

All pain was forgotten as my daughter held her newborn son. And even yesterday when I spoke of the pain, she brushed it off as if it was nothing.  She was abundantly blessed with a child and the pain of bringing him into this world was forgotten.

The extended family had driven many miles to be there to welcome him. Uncle, Aunt, and grandparents were there. Family and friends scattered all over the country anxiously awaited the phone call announcing his arrival. We were welcoming  a new little soul into the circle of family.

Our family is a circle of strength and love, with every birth and every union, the circle will grow, every joy shared adds more love, every crisis faced together, makes the circle stronger.

We faced our first crisis with him a few days later when he was diagnosed with severe jaundice and dehydration. He was so weak when he was re-admitted to the hospital that he was barely able to suckle and was difficult to rouse. Every one had gone home at this point, but the mothers came. My daughter stayed at the hospital sleeping on a small bed close to the baby, I slept at her house to watch the other two little ones.  My own 85 year old mother whose brain has been ravished with Alzheimer’s disease, begged and pleaded with me to let her come and help in some way.

My daughter and I flew into the passion of sacrificial mothering. The men in our family have learned to either help or get out of our way when we get like this. We are focused, we are driven, and we are not always reasonable.

Mother love is the fuel that enables the normal human being to do the impossible – Marion Garretty

And with a mother’s love and presence constantly there, the help of lights and IV’S, baby Jaxon surprised the doctors by having a quicker than expected recovery.  Two nights later he came home to two adoring sisters who will try their best as long as they live, to mother him. He will pull against it often, but in the his heart he will always know his sisters love is a rare and sweet thing.

This mother’s day finds me both a mother and a grandmother. Strangely, I have also found myself mothering my own mother now. But mothering is like that I am learning.  It begins early with our siblings sometimes, and doesn’t end when the last child leaves home. The strength, the fuel, that propels us to take care of those we love is one of the most powerful forces on the earth.  And I’m not sure it ends at death, I think it goes on.  That we, as selfish human women, can dig so deep, and sacrifice so much for those we love is nothing short of amazing. Mothering love is indeed a reflection of the heart of God.

Wishing all of you amazing women who mother in so many ways, a blessed mother’s day.

Linking this post with: The Charm of Home and Spiritual Sunday