Cheryl Dale – Climbing Out of the Valley

Once you are a mom, you truly understand how God made mothers unique.  It’s a bit like Clark Kent and Superman – same person but different.  Clark is a great guy, but when he morphs into Superman he can do things beyond explanation.  The same thing happens when you become a mother.  A new depth is revealed and it isn’t anything you learned or practiced or even knew you had before.

Once you are a mom you have an innate ability to find things like lost school books, lost socks, lost toys.  You know how to look in the unusual places like the refrigerator or under the steps or in the back corner of the closet.  But you also have the superpower to locate lost souls.  What mom hasn’t looked in a child’s eyes and known immediately that the world is coming to an end?  What mom hasn’t found the right measure of words, touch and encouragement to restore hope and determination?

Once you are a mom you have the ability to fix broken things like toys and handmade artwork.  But you also have the superpower to fix broken hearts.  What mom hasn’t dammed a river of tears with a soft spoken promise or rekindled a light in the eyes with a smile and cookie?

Once you are a mom you hear things like a cry in the night or a specific whimper on the playground, even the “mommy” called out in a chaotic crowd of children that you instantly recognize as yours.  But your superpower allows you to hear the soundless things.  What mother hasn’t heard the unvoiced fear of a child’s first step out into the world?  And what mom hasn’t tucked just the right note into a lunch bag or texted just the right words of courage for an unvoiced dread?  What mom hasn’t heard the unshed tears of anguish when a game is lost or an election goes the other way?  What mom hasn’t heard the beating heart the first time a boy looks her daughter’s way?  What mom hasn’t heard the unasked questions when a child looks in a mirror?  Am I pretty?  Am I strong?  Who am I?  What mom hasn’t answered those questions before they were even asked?

Once you are a mom you know just what lessons are critical to making your child into the best person he or she can possibly be.  But your superpower enables you to know that no matter what, your child is already the best you could possibly hope for.

Today I’m really missing my mom who passed away twelve years ago.   She read me like a book, loved me like no other human could, and encouraged me in ways I never realized until I became a mom.  My prayer is that her legacy lives on in me.

My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  Prov 6:20