A Parent's Heart

Mothers and fathers, I do not yet fully know how you do it. I'm not a parent, but I have come to understand at least a tiny glimpse of the heart of a parent. At first, my students were just my students, then they were something more lovely, like a sibling or an old friend, but then, something unexpected happened. My students became my children.

And what I'm realizing, as time goes by, is that the love of a parent can be immensely painful. As it well should be. To have your heart walking around outside of your body, it can be a beautiful, wonderful thing. But your heart is sure to take a beating without any protection. When one of your children is hurting, your heart is hurting. When one of your children is missing, your heart seems to stop altogether until they return.

Over the past few days, I have experienced the pain of love as some of my own have been hurting, have hurt me, and one was even missing for a short time that seemed to go on forever. I have been a "parent" for all of a few years, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how this kind of love can go on for a lifetime.

It's a strange thing, the love-pain of a parent. The love of a child is so strong that it makes any of the pain completely worth it.

How much greater must our Father's love-pain be for us. How much more must God look at us, believing we are worth it. What a wonderful heart to have my own heart patterned after.

Thank You, Father, for the mystery of a parent's heart and love. And thank You for giving me a parent's heart before actually becoming a parent. Help me to love the children you have entrusted me in the way You have designed me to. It was worth it to send your Son for me, your child. In echo, it is worth it for me to pour Your love into Your children. What a love. What a love.