The Uncouth: The Hormonal
For the day after Mother’s Day, I remembered this, and thought of you out there, you who worry you don’t have the kind of grip you ought to have on the lives around you.
After every baby, a woman morphs into someone else entirely. Do not be surprised if her spiritual hair turns stark black as soot or red as molten steel. Do not be surprised if that hip she props the newest baby on causes her to feel unnaturally imbalanced so that in public places she follows sudden urges to slam her torso far to the side, trying to pop that crick out of her back. When she listens to music, it’s not like it used to be, making her sway and close her eyes all dreamy, but rather it’s an invisible crowbar, ripping open a teary fire-hydrant, sudden unrelated fears for your children. Instead of making a grocery list, she’ll note the things that could happen: spiders, amoebas, cancer, falling bridges, hippos and tigers (you know, escaped from the zoo), real pirates, whores, cannibals, and the worst – unbelief.
Lives in a woman’s hands, they are mountains in her heart. It’s a silly thing God asks them to do. Bear them, feed them, discipline them, teach them to love, and hand them over. Trade in the mountains for mustard seeds. Mary, no wonder we sing so many songs to you, bewildered as we are.
originally posted August, 2008
- May 12, 2014
- 4 Comments
- 0
- motherhood
layla bb solms
May 12, 2014feed them - CHECK
discipline/train them - check
teach them to love - OUCH - so many of my faults and hang ups are manifesting and rearing ugly heads in my lovely (teenaged) children. the love is so important and so difficult. necessary and scary. love seems to easily read as condoning behaviors we'd rather our children not take on.
so here we are, my husband and I, working each day to teach our children to love as Jesus loves. we'll keep at it.
Katie Q
May 12, 2014You! You have a gift, sir.
Seth
May 12, 2014That was Amber! The two of y'all will be fast friends.
Sarah Jo
May 12, 2014Thanks for posting this! Lately I've been feeling I'm standing on ice and I've just been handed some priceless crystal trinket that I'm bound to drop and break. "Trade in the mountains for mustard seeds..." love!<3