The Nurturing Power of Mothers

This week, leading up to Mother’s Day, I’ve been thinking about the nurturing power of Mothering.

Motherhood is so incredibly powerful in all it’s shapes and forms. Even when we mess up (thank goodness for the God of second chances!).

Mothering sculpts entire societies, it’s that big. “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world” (William Wallace). And WE get to do it.

So many kinds of mothering

I’m not just talking about the mothering of those children who fill up our homes. The ones who we [mostly] simply cannot get enough of even with the sometimes stinky feet, bad attitudes, and continual interruptions. Isn’t that kind of magic? We can go into their bedrooms, even after the roughest of days, and fall in love all over again watching their eyelashes rest so peacefully on their plump baby cheeks.

I love this painting by Brian Kershisnik titled “A Splendid Inconvenience.”

Because sometimes some kinds of mothering are just that: a very splendid inconvenience.

But I’m also talking about the kind of mothering Lucy’s vision teacher has given me lately. I was on the phone with her twice this week trying to figure out some deep worries with post high school technology. Those calls both ended teary-eyed because she “sees” me. She “sees” Lucy. She has mothered and nurtured her in ways her own mother cannot. That is so powerful.

I’m talking about the kind of mother-nurturing that I saw across the aisle at church last week. My friend who lost her son in a tragic car accident last year with another friend’s son snuggled into her. She lost her own son, but was making someone else’s son feel so safe and secure through her unique brand of mother-nurturing.

I’m talking about my friend who takes Lucy on a date after school each week, stopping her own busy schedule to nurture this girl, my daughter, she has taken so beautifully under her wing.

And another friend who invites us all to join her in her home each week to study a conference talk together. Nurturing us through gathering and providing a venue for us to slow down and dissect our thoughts and feelings about spiritual matters.

Yes, there are so many powerful ways to mother.

May we recognize, no matter what stage of life we’re in, or where we are on the motherhood spectrum, our own unique ways to nurture and love and lift matter.

We are forging new paths with our own kids as well as the people around us.

Art by Caitlin Connolly

…as well as for ourselves.

And that is such a powerful, all-encompassing thing!

So Many Thoughts About Motherhood!

• The Power of a Mother
• Thoughts About a Little Dab of Hair Gel (and “Motherhood Muscles”)
• Stages of Motherhood