The Secret Conversation

It’s June in May!

No, I haven’t lost my mind. Grandbaby number seven arrived safe and sound this week. June Barbara introduced herself with much fanfare and a little scare. But all is well and her cousins can’t wait to initiate her into the clan with lots of hugs and kisses and dance moves.

Witnessing the simultaneous joy and pain of birth and the transforming power of motherhood up close has brought me to my knees. Being at a bedside for a birth is one of the closest encounters of the presence of God this side of heaven. Lost in the chaos that our bodies go through to bring life into the world is the power and the tenderness of the Creator.

The first time I hold each of my grandchildren I have a secret conversation with them. I ask them to tell me about Jesus. Tell me about heaven. Because I believe we are born with a keen sense of the Divine. A closeness and an intimate knowledge of the place and the reality that we wonder about as adults. We lose those memories as the years pile on and this world and its trappings dull our sense of where we came from.

I get various responses from my query. Mostly quiet unfocused stares and muffled grunts. But in them all, there is a reassurance to me that there really is more to life than what we can see now and babies are the angels sent with that message.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of us who have birthed a baby, lost a baby, are waiting on a baby, or have played a significant role in a baby’s life. The definition of motherhood is broad and varied. The tasks of motherhood are hard, sacrificial, and stinky! But the blessings of motherhood always include a glimpse of heaven. No matter how old your baby is.

Take a peek,

Joan