Made With Love

It's Mother's Day, the day we've set aside to recognize the importance of mothers in the lives of children of all ages -- each and every one of us. (Ironic, I think, that we're celebrating Mother's Day in the midst of a heated debate about the right for mothers to kill their babies.) I am particularly grateful to God for the mother He gave me. I was literally fashioned by my mother in the sense that she bore me into this world. Her genes and my father's genes merged and produced ... me. But far beyond the merely physical, my parents made me. They shaped me. They were formative. And, as in most people of my generation, Mom had more influence than Dad simply in terms of the quantity of time spent. She was a homemaker and he was a breadwinner and I saw more of her than him growing up. Thus, in that sense, Mom, in particular, made me.

I cannot tell you how many people have interacted with me for a time, then met my mother, and come away saying, "Oh, now I know why you are like you are." My life is full of "Mom." She is often in my illustrations. "My mom always used to say ..." or "My mom taught me ..." or "My mom lived this in front of me." My mother grew up in a "less than optimum situation" (in quotes because where God puts people may appear "less than optimum" but never really is) with a younger sister, a single mother, and a string of "stepdads." She moved around a lot and, one day, got invited to church by a family in her latest neighborhood, where she met Christ quite by "accident." At that point my mother was "radically saved." She changed without being able to explain why. She hungered for the Word and sought fellowship and pursued Christ. To this day, that has been her arc.

I am what I am largely because of my mother. She taught me that love was a choice rather than a mere feeling. She demonstrated godly obedience with joy. She lived "more of Him and less of me." She taught primarily by practice and supplemented with words. I learned the importance of discipling others because my mother regularly discipled others. I saw how crucial Scripture is because my mother has always been daily in the Word. I grasped the critical trust in God amidst difficulties because my mother lived on trusting God amidst difficulties. And that's a short list.

My parents certainly made me, physically and spiritually. Of course, we all know that's not perfectly true. My parents have been the tool God has used to make me. My dad has been significant, but my mom has been more so. For both, I am grateful. For my mom, especially today, I am thankful. I did not make me. God did. He did it through my parents. He particularly shaped me through my mother. He shaped me with love using a loving mother. I have been made with love.