How Far Would You Go?

As a mother, I know the answer to that question.  I would do anything for my kids.  They are small and vulnerable and unable to defend themselves.  I would take a bullet for them and go to the ends of the earth to do anything for them… I’ve never doubted that.  I’ve known it inside since before I was even really a mother.  I knew that I wanted kids, had a yearning to be a part of that world and to make and nurture life and see it bloom into what I pray is a God-glorifying adult and parent someday.  But just what does this look like? 

Does it look like the many friends and family I have that have struggled to conceive a child?  Does it look like the anguish that no one can quite understand that hasn’t walked that road?  Does it look like the friend who had multiple miscarriages before finally, finally, getting to experience carrying a child to full-term?  I think it does.  I am so thankful that I never had to experience that pain and sadness that accompany a miscarriage.  I’ve walked with friends through that valley and know that I’ll never truly understand that pain.  I struggled to get pregnant with my first child, but was lucky enough to only have to go through that struggle for a year and didn’t have to go through the painful process of exploring other avenues of conception.  How exhausting a fight!  But how precious.  And how thankful I am for my friends and family that have chosen to fight for their children.  Some may never see the outcome that they’ve longed for, but I know countless women who are willing to fight with all that they have to make it happen.  That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

What about the friend who’s been stuck in Africa for 8+ months trying to bring her little girl home to her family?  She met her daughter when she was just a few weeks old and has been struggling to get her home ever since.  What a warrior.  This, more than anything I can think of, is the picture of fighting for your children. She will fight until her daughter comes home.  Period.  That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

What about all the parents who decide to adopt?  What about all the paperwork, the money, the time, the emotional roller coaster, the questions and strange looks from strangers?  All of the time you spend knowing that your child is suffering and you can’t do anything about it.  What about all of the time spent teaching that child that they are loved and that they can trust you and depend on you?  That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

What about just the day to day stuff?  Going to work, doing chores, wiping butts and noses, rocking a baby at 2 am that can’t tell you what’s wrong.  Every day is a fight for these little ones.  They have no one to fight for them, so we do it.  We love them more than our lives and we fight for them.  That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

We do whatever it takes and don’t look back.  We know it’s right, even when the world questions it.  They don’t understand.  They never will. 

 
But He does…because He fought and won.  He wages battle on our behalf and He wins.  And every day, there’s a struggle over us…and every day He fights for us.  He did what it took and He wins.  He fought for us when we didn’t deserve us, He died for our sake.  That’s the picture I want my kids to see.  That because He fought for us, I fought for them.