I walk circles around the dog park near my house and read my moms text messages over and over again. Its the only contact we have had since she left for Tanzania almost two weeks ago and its the longest we have ever gone without talking on the phone. Her messages take me out of my tiny world where the temperature rivals that of hell (I can only guess) and my routine follows a boring rotation. She has spent the past two weeks in safari, painting schools, and adding the final touches to a hospital that will serve the underprivileged village. I have spent the past two weeks wallowing in my boredom, cleaning our house in what seems like circles, and praying that her and my dad would make it back to the US no worse for the wear.
It is in this that I realize how much of a mother our own God is, how much he nurture, soothes, and comforts. I realize how much he lends an ear to the desperate and promises love to even the most broken of his children. He is indeed a father but he is also the worlds greatest mother. My mom reminded me of this fact when she told me about Jacqueline, an baby girl who screamed unable to be coddled. Sickness made it unable for her to be held and so my mother sat, her hands reaching through the crib showing Jacqueline love in the only way she could. The effect was instant, the screaming stopped and I can only imagine the small child scooting closer and closer to her cage of a crib to get next to my mothers loving arms. My mom told me that sitting next to the crib, soothing the tiny baby she got an image of our heavenly mother. How often has God come and sat next to my cage of a crib and reached his hands through the bars, soothing my cries. How often does he sit with me for hours, holding my hand so that I can make it through the next minute. My moms word picture was perfect but a tiny voice in my soul told me he did more. In almost a whisper I could hear her say, “I don’t just sit next to the crib I get into it with you.”