Wednesday, April 30, 2008

A Recognizable Voice – One Reason of Many I’m Glad I’m a Mom


(This story states two reasons why I’m glad to be a mom. The first you’ll find rather obviously written below. The second is the fact that having a child has given me a deeper understanding about what it means to be a child of God. This piece is written for my sweet friend Elisa at Extravagant Grace as part of her “Why I’m Glad to Be a Mom—Mother’s Day Contest.”)

“Ma-ma-mama-maaah! Bhooo! BHOOOO!”

I didn’t need to lift my eyes toward the floating Mylar ball resting near the produce section of the grocery store to know that it was the object enticing my one-year-old son. Pickle loves balloons. During his first birthday party, while tugging the string attached to a gigantic helium-filled frog, my little man added the word balloon…rather bhoo to his vocabulary. A passerby might think he was trying to scare me. But as his mommy, there was no mistaking his intent. “Bhoo” was easily translated to balloon.

I know my boy, and more often than not, I know the messages he attempts to communicate. I know the difference between his “I’m scared” scream, and his “I cannot wait another millisecond for the next bite of yogurt” scream. He says bah when he wants to take a bath, when he wants to play ball, and when he sees a sheep, and with my eyes closed I could pin-point the difference each time. It’s not rocket science. It’s mommy-knows-her-baby science. When other little ones who don’t share my last name express their thoughts to me, I often find myself looking up at their mommies and mouthing “what?” But when it comes to my kids, even my baby Pickle, it doesn’t take long before I crack the toddler code and decipher their language.

My son knows my voice too. I’m convinced that all babies are born with super powers. Deep within each infant lies “Mommy Radar.” Whenever his mommy is within fifteen feet, Pickle’s super hearing is triggered and “Mommy Radar” kicks in. I’m not kidding. I can be standing outside the closed door of the church nursery whispering to a friend and hear my little guy wail “Mamamamamaaaaaaaaaah.”

I love that aspect of motherhood. That special communicative bond between parent and child. Priceless. It’s a bond not limited to children and their earthly parents. This I know because there is another voice I recognize; a silent voice stirring my spirit and awakening mind. It’s softer than a whisper yet can cause mountains to tremble. The same voice that spoke the solar-system into existence, speaks to my conscious. He never talked to me through a burning bush or with a thunderous boom, yet when He speaks, I don’t doubt His voice. As a baby kitten recognizes her mother, I recognize when my Father composes a special message just for me.

He also recognizes my voice. When my heart throbs, and the only sounds that escape my mouth are whimpers and groans, my Father deciphers each thought, every plea. When elation overthrows all semblance of decorum and a mighty uproarious Woooo-hooo leaps out of my chest, God hears an entire sonnet. Others may think me a silly fool or a weak and sorry excuse of a human being. But not my Father. He makes sense from my confused ramblings. He hears poetry when others hear gibberish. Because He knows me like no other could ever know me. My creator knows my voice.

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." John 10:1-5 (NIV)







48 comments:

Elizabeth Byler Younts said...

what a beautiful sentiment toward motherhood...sweetly written and your words go so far! *elizabeth

Denise C said...

So nice to meet you..thank you for stopping by my blog and for your sweet words there!!!
I love your post about being a Mommy...it is the most wonderful place to be!! Thank you for sharing your heart...and love for our Father!!! He is to be praised!!!
Sweet Blessings!!
Denise

Lynn said...

Beautifully written. I, too, have understood God's grace and patience in a new way since becoming a mother. Praise the LORD that He understands all of our tantrums and ramblings and loves us still.

Unknown said...

Absolutely gorgeous post.

Tracy said...

Another beautifully illustrated truth. This is a favorite of favorites!
Blessings,
Tracy

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

This is a lovely post- you hit it right on the nose!!

Steph

DKay said...

Being a Mom is the COOLEST! I can only imagine how He feels about us - His children.
GREAT post!!!

Rachel said...

It is so good to hear Words of Truth, that God loves us more than we love our kids. Thanks!

~Rachel

mandy said...

this is awesome. as one contemplating and fearing motherhood, this was great to read.
timely

Darla said...

OMG that's beautiful. I never "feel" right until my family is all in our home together. There's always a part of me that's missing until all 3 of us are here.

I can't wait for summer!!!!

Mocha with Linda said...

That is breathtakingly beautiful, Angela! You have a wonderful gift for the written word.

Mocha with Linda said...

That is breathtakingly beautiful, Angela! You have a wonderful gift for the written word.

Tammy said...

Wow...again, your writing simply blows me away! This was beautiful...and something all of us as moms could totally understand and nod in agreement with.

I'm a wanna-be writer from the time I was a child, and your writing style is so very beautiful...I hope God uses you mightily with it!

Wendi@EveryDayMiracles said...

This is so wonderful! Once again, your words have stirred my emotions and touched my heart.
As a mommy, I can relate with every bit of it.
Really beautiful!

Kimberly said...

:)
Aren't you just so thankful that He speaks to us? That He allows us such an intimate relationship with HIM...the Creator of the entire universe!!!! :)
Blessings! And I so agree with the other ladies who commented. God has gifted you with the ability to write beautifully!

Anonymous said...

I love how you can take a story about a balloon and translate it into a great mommy moment! :)
Wonderful post.

Lisa said...

Angela, this is an awesome reflection on motherhood, and something I've been thinking much on lately -- both as a mother and as a daughter of the Most High God. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and put into words what I could not express!

Blessings,
Elisa

Anonymous said...

So beautiful!

Genny said...

Beautiful, and so well said. I really enjoyed this post!

Joyfulsister said...

Beautiful my sister *U* and that Love even flows over when we become Nana to our lil grandchildren, although it's a different kind of love the experiences of both are so heartfelt and beautiful.

Hugz Lorie

Julie said...

One of the reasons I love being a mom is because children give us pictures of God.

Hugs,
Julie

Carol said...

I'm so glad you stopped by because I am so glad I found you! You are an incredible writer! This was absolutely beautiful. I will be back for sure!

Andrea said...

I love it. That was great.

Alana said...

I'm so glad He makes since of our every thought. Beautiful post!

a Tonggu Momma said...

What a beautiful lesson! I'm convinced God wants us to become parents (however we arrive to that path -- even if we "parent" the neighborhood children) because He wants to more fully reveal Himself to us. The same with marriage.

This is a favorite to bookmark, so that I can read it on days when I'm feeling *not that* in my parenting.

Gina Conroy said...

Thanks for the walk down memory lane. It's been a while since I got to decipher baby talk! My almost six year old baby talks more like a teen!

dixymiss said...

Lovely post on motherhood. ThanX for visiting me @ ineXplicable. It's a pleasure to meet you. To answer your Q, yes I did indeed take the garden piX in my post.

Marissa said...

Beautifully written, and so true. Thank you for sharing your stories. I look forward to reading more!

Rebekah said...

Being a mother has definitely brought me to a new and better understanding of God's love- His sense of humor too. ;)

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving such an encouraging comment! You have an incredible talent for writing, I enjoyed reading your blog. I'll be back to visit again.
Velvia

Unknown said...

It's amazing how awesome God is! Smiles! I love knowing and understanding my children like no one else can... and I love knowing that God does the same with me.

Tori said...

i love this post... because i love being a mother. :)
do you have a personal blog as well, i would love to see it too!

Shonda said...

Beautifully written. I like how you related understanding your child to how our Father understands us. I'm so grateful that He does understand us.
You're a gifted writer.

Blessings in Christ--

Ice Cream said...

I'm always shocking my husband with the things I know or can tell about my kids just by the sounds they make. I love it.

Kristen said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I also appreciate you comment!
This was such a great post! I love the fact that God knows each of us so well...and on an individual basis like you said. Pretty amazing!

Misty said...

gorgeous, and so true. i love being a mama as much as i love being abba's daughter. thank you for a sweet reminder!

Gretchen said...

I love how you tied our recognition of our children's voices/language code to God's own deciphering of His children's personal codes. I often forget of God as my Father, funnily enough. I'm too busy thinking of Him as the God of the universe--which He is, but he's my personal, everlasting, amazing Father, too.

Lovely. xxxooogretchen

Kim S in SC said...

Found you by way of Elisa! Beautiful story of His intimate knowledge of us and ours of HIM when we spend time learning to "recognize" HIS voice! Thank you!Kim

Karen Hossink said...

Yes, this is absolutely sweet!
And I am so thankful for my Father's voice, too.

Once I was with a group of graduate students from the local university. As part of our introduction to one another we were supposed to tell everyone something about our field of study that most people don't know.
Since I am "just a mom" I had to do some quick thinking, and this is what I came up with: Most people (non-moms, that is) don't realize that mothers are bi-lingual.
To prove my point I asked if anyone knew what I meant when I said, "Ge da, mama? Pee ge da?"
Then I translated, "Get down, mama? Please get down?" And everyone understood. *grin*

Laura said...

Oh, this is so good. I especially love one of the first points you made: that being a mommy has taught you more about what being a child of God means. Isn't that the truth. I think it is the closest we will ever come on this side of eternity to understanding the depths of His love for us. Blessings!
Laura

KATE said...

Loved the story! Thanks!

~ I don't know that I have a particular story regarding my love for being a mom. I just do. There are still days I think I should reserve my spot at the mental hospital, but I love it just the same. I think bottom line, in all the mounds of diapers, spit up, tears, band aids & kissed boo boo's, even my specially made straighty jacket I have on order, I don't know what else I'd want to be!

~ Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Anonymous said...

What a very beautiful post!

Having a child has also taught me more about God's love for me. So many times I look at her and think about how much I love her and then I stop and think, "Wow, God loves me more than this!"

Kristen said...

I thought this was beautiful! Thanks for sharing it.

Btw, thanks for visiting me this weekend while I've been in bed recovering. Your comments cheered me up!

Nina said...

I am so proud of you!
Love, Mom

Jenny said...

Beautiful, wonderful post. Breathtaking.

Becky said...

Oh, I LOVED this! So beautifully expressed.

I love that parenting gives us a glimpse of our Heavenly Father's love for His children. How He knows us, and understands us so intimately, even when we can't adequately convey ourselves.

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

Christine said...

This is beautiful! I can so relate (as I'm sure every mommy can) to knowing your child- their speech, their intent- even with differences that are minute. I once read an article about a study they did with blindfolded moms. They passed all of the women's babies beneath each of their noses and 100% of the time the mothers knew their own baby. The dads weren't quite so accurate... :)

Thanks for a wonderful post today!

Anonymous said...

This is so true - one of the most painful parts of the first three or four years of my son's life was not really being able to tell what he wanted or to show him how to communicate with us. I am so thankful to God and to the many people who have helped our son learn to interact with us so that we could get to know each other.

While there are still times where it feels like we are on different planets, I am amazed at how far he has come on his journey.

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