Thursday, June 11, 2015

Luke 2:19. The verse for moms.

A couple years ago I stumbled upon the verse Luke 2:19.

….."but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often"….

She was a new mom….people were coming to visit her brand new baby……she knew who he was and who he was going to be…..and yet…..she had these secret mom thoughts…..moments that were all hers…..that she could bring back whenever she wanted to….whenever she needed to……because that's what moms do.  

I'd read it before but it didn't have a big impact--probably because I wasn't a mom yet and maybe because there are some various opinions on what it means.  But I remember reading it as a new mom and I thought, 

This.  This verse was written for moms.  This verse was written for moms who contemplate and think about and love their babies to the ends of the earth.  This verse perfectly describes the two hundred times we kiss our babies heads while we rock them to sleep and drink in how amazing their little heads smell….hoping to never forget that scent for as long we live and inevitably conjuring up that memory when we think about our kids, miss them, and long to hug them just one more time when they get on that bus for the first day of school or when we check on them at night before we go to bed.

As moms we all have those 'things in our heart' and we think about them often--because they belong to us--just us.

The way Crosby's feathery soft fingers feel when he brushes them along my arm while I'm feeding him a bottle.

The way Georgia shouts, "BEST DAY EVER," if I let her have ice-cream.

The way Crosby smiles with his mouth shut and his cheeks puff out so big he's lucky I haven't eaten them both.

The way Georgia mumbles she loves me when I kiss her on the forehead before I go to bed and she stirs in her sleep.

The way Crosby lays heavy against me when we sit on the blue couch and listen to Georgia play the piano--and he's mesmerized by her.

The way Georgia shakes her hands and nods her head when she's really getting into telling me a story.

The way it feels when my kids grip my hands, by shoulders, my legs, my face when they need me--when they need to feel safe and reassured.

The way Georgia tells me quietly that her stomach hurts a little bit when she gets nervous and can I pray for her to feel brave.

The way Crosby slaps the bed with his feet at the same time when he sees me peek over his crib to get him in the morning.

The way he giggles when I put a blanket over his face and ask where he is.

The way Georgia hunches over artwork and I can see her think so hard about what she wants to add to a picture next…..and next.

The way she reaches forward from the backseat and extends her hand signaling she wants to hold mine.

All those moments and what it really feels like to be in them--they're all mine.  I can list them for you, paint a picture kind-of--but really…..to live them, breath them, feel them…….they're mine.  You can't possibly know what it does for me, to me, and in me.  Just like I can't know yours.  They become part of the rhythm of our mom hearts and set the beat that keeps us going and each of us has a little different beat.

I'm reminded of verses like this and how deeply I love them at the beginning of a summer; when I have weeks stretched out ahead of me with everyone home where I can be present in so many moments that I want to store in my heart forever…..and think about often.

A few from tonight……
Two little amazing friends having so much fun on the trampoline, Disney radio playing on my phone from the lawn, the trees blowing in the wind, and just these two giggling and plotting 'moves' together as they jumped.












Get ready to store some moments this summer.  When they happen, you'll know it.  You'll know they're the ones.  The ones you'll think about often and always and that are all yours…..how it felt to be in them, how they made you love your kids even more, how grateful you were for those giggles, those little hands, that kiss, that wink, that question, that sigh, that smell, and that look.

Luke 2:19 this summer.
It's my new verb.  

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