Needing rest?

The heat radiates from the soft skin as they snuggle close, mommy trying to comfort the ailing boy.  This boy, the first-born holds her heart and makes it ache to see him any other way than normal, even if normal isn’t always accompanied by the obedience she hopes for.  He lays so still in her arms, just wanting to be held.  She breathes in the smell of him, already so grown up with just a hint that he is still her baby.  She prays that hint will stay on him for a long time to come.

In time, the sickness leaves his body and he is back to running to and fro, barely having a moment for old mom.  But she remembers.  She remembers how all the other household chores seemed to fade into oblivion as she cared for this one boy.  She remembers the way he wanted her to hold him close and stroke his head gently whispering prayers for his healing.  Those prayers that ask that she might take this into her body that he might be free from pain.

And should the heat rise in his little body again; should he ache to be held, her arms will be ready and waiting.  A prayer will already be on her lips.  Every other concern will fade from her mind as she comforts him.

For there will always be more laundry and dishes.  There will always be friends to chat with and books to read. But this moment, the moment where mother and child are all she knows will only last for a season.  And that season is quickly disappearing.

She knows this is just a glimpse of how her heavenly Father feels about her.  She knows that His arms too are always open for her.  He waits to hold her should she want to be held.  His love is there should her body ache or should her heart ache.  He wants only the best for her.  He always makes Himself available for her.  And because of this deep, deep love, she knows that she has a haven of rest found only in Him. (Matthew 11:28)  Just as her love for her baby will never end, she knows this is just a glimpse of the never-ending love He has for her.

May you find today the rest you need in the love He extends to you .

~Jessica

(Still working on THE STATEMENT…)