Love {Motherhood Challenges Series}

Jonathan at 3mo old photo shoot

Love is hard.

It's not just a feeling of butterflies in your stomach, or head spinning from the excitement of newness, or not even sweet feeling of joy when holding your newborn babe.

Love is action. Love is thought. Love is work.

Sometimes love requires a lot of work to stay alive.

We say that we love things - everything from a tasty burger to our mother. But the love I'm talking about is something that you learn to give, something that needs time to grow and mature. 

To love children it takes...

...patience when they don't listen and obey; when they have stubborn will and awful attitude

...care when they can't care for themselves. Every time of the day, every day.

...compassion for their inexperience when they don't know any better.

...lots and lots of teaching right from wrong and empathy for their mistakes. 

...wisdom to let them go and be independent while carefully watching over. 

...sound judgement when to punish and when to have mercy. 

...kindness in every word we say. 

...goodness and grace. 

...understanding of their little minds and how God designed them.

...tenderness for their fragile soul and impressionable spirit.

...affection and smiles. 

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:4–8)

Love takes much effort on our part and doesn't come easy because, let's face it, we are selfish human beings.
It's hard to give love as a parent without having a constant source to receive from.

This is why God's love to us, people, is such an important part of His existence. He loves us every time we mess up, every time we leave Him and don't obey Him; every time we make mistakes and are unkind. We bring turmoil on ourselves and still ask Him to help us and guide us. And He does.

Truly God's love is amazing!

As a mom, I know that I cannot love my child as much as God loves him. I cannot come even close in understanding, kindness, compassion and wisdom that God has with us but I can try.

It isn't easy and every day grind gets to me.
I fail. I ask His forgiveness. 

I try again to be the best mother I could be. To show my little boy what love really means and how give it to others. How to live it and show love in my everyday life.