The
Quilt of Motherhood
pamela spurling
Those first two
little teeth… those same little teeth that made their debut five
years earlier mark a milestone in that little one’s life, when they
begin to have a bit more space in that growing jaw and then become
wiggly in delighted little fingers. With probably the same thrill
and joy we felt upon first seeing them pop through, we pull them
out. A surge of the bittersweet may wash over us as we observed
this milestone. Those bittersweet moments only mothers know… the
baby’s are growing… they’re learning to toddle across the floor,
they fall and skin flawless knees, they ride on shoulders and then
on bicycles, they work at their play with plastic money and baby
keys that are in a moment replaced with exams and paychecks and car
keys, they pay dress up and then get dressed up, they colour in the
lines and then write beautiful poetry, you hold them in your hand
and then in your prayers---those sweet moments mothers treasure in
their hearts for a lifetime.
I remember
noticing the smile becoming broader and the teeth more spaced than
ever before. I knew in my heart that the little boy face was
transforming into the face of a young man---that the temporary
little teeth of a toddler would be replaced with the permanent teeth
of a man. Oh, these bittersweet moments… mama’s all over the globe
know them all too well. Now, at the risk of sounding downhearted
about these life-passages, I assure you it’s just another of the
many melancholy moments a mama experiences. They’re those
bittersweet moments… pieces in the quilt of motherhood.
This quilt---the
quilt of motherhood---warms us, stifles us, wraps us and covers us
as it defines the days gone by. Mothers fold blankets and cover
their babies with quilts, and then they fold their hands and cover
their children in prayer. They, at once, picture the sweet past
memories and picture special futures of their babies. All the
while, time is piecing and shaping their quilt.
Each square of the
quilt might represent a child; some squares: neat and tidy, some
symmetrical and straight, some have frayed edges, missing stitches
and torn material, some with the softest cloth with extra batting,
some have raveled seams and the tattered blocks look nothing like
the original squares. The quilts of motherhood are pieced with
tear-stained fabrics, the soft hues and bright colours, the dark
sashing, blood-stained threads, soft cotton and rough cloth, the
fabric of childhood memories, hopes and dreams.
Every mother’s
quilt tells a story---lots of stories, really and every mother knows
where the stitches are neat and even, and every mother knows right
where the tears and frayed edges are. As the days pass, even the
dark squares and worn pieces bring a sort of a melancholy yet sweet
memory. The older the quilt, the dearer the comfort; the older the
quilt, the more valuable the stitches that hold the pieces
together. There’s much hope in both the older and newer quilts: the
older with memories and the newer with hopes and dreams. Both are
warming to a mother’s heart. Both cover a mother with a joy
unspeakable. Both sweet--- though one, bittersweet.
The quilt of
motherhood is a precious possession… marvelous and challenging,
sunny and stormy, glad and disappointing, easy and difficult---no
matter, most would do all the days over again just to have this
treasured possession. It’s at once unique and universal, and yet,
no two are alike. No amount of money in the world could create the
treasure that mothers possess in this, the quilt of motherhood and
only the saving knowledge of Christ and the blessed assurance of His
Holy Spirit and life eternal is worth more than this: the quilt of
motherhood.
The Quilt
of Motherhood ~ by pamela spurling ~ A Christian
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