For mothers, the stretch marks never stop

In my 26-1/2 years as a mother, I’ve learned that the stretch marks at birth are just the beginning. For the nine months that I carried them, my body, my womb were stretched. Far beyond what this 4-foot, 11-1/2-inch girl could have dreamt possible. And my flesh bears the evidence of that truth. They are part of me now.

Then they began to grow up, spread their wings, choose their paths. And the stretch marks kept right on going.

One went far astray for a season, a time. And my heart stretched and twisted near-to snappin’.

One went overseas, traveled far, journeyed wide. And my heart stretched right tight ’round the globe. To other lands.

Two are thinkin’ about college, ’bout higher education. This will take them to–God alone sees. He knows.

And I’ll stretch and keep stretchin’, and it’s all good.

Here’s what else I have learned; that the cords that stretch and connect me to my sons are cords that can strangle and bind…if I’m not careful. Or willin’. Willin’ to let go and trust Him. To grab that cord.

For God (I see this) has stretch marks as well. ‘Cause His heart once stretched clear down here. His Son traveled, too, to a different time, different place, and some folks put a spear in His side.

How that hurt. Not just the Kid, but the Dad Who had sent Him.

And They did it for love. For me. For my sons.

The good in the stretchin’ if you handle it right is that your heart keeps on growin’ and enlargin’. This is true, too, for your children. If you let them go, trust them into His hands, that’s faith that brings life, not a stranglin’.

It’s fear that grips tightly, that keeps them bound up. That insists on leashin’ and chainin’. And hearts shrivel.

So let your birds fly. Launch those arrows full-out. Let your heart stretch, open your hands, and embrace it. Give them the gift of your trust in the Lord, the faith that brings life, that’s dependent…

On Him, on the Father Who first so loved us. Whose love is the cord that we cling to. And that cord, my friend, never fails.

In Him,

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