Miracle of Life

Mir-a-cle -- 

1.  an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2.  such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
3.  a wonder; marvel.

On the heels of Mother's Day, I wanted to write about a phrase I heard a couple of times over the weekend -- "ultimate sacrifice." It was used in relation to the act of giving birth and/or being a mother.  Now, trust me, there are sacrifices involved when you choose to raise up another human being. But there are sacrifices involved in life in anything worth doing. In my opinion, if something comes too easily, you probably didn't aim high enough.

When I think of ultimate sacrifice, though, I think of this:

          Motherhood has its own demands that can be seen as sacrifices. Some things on your body get bigger, some things get droopier, and some things get thinner, to name a few. For the next couple of decades, you don't go to the bathroom alone, or take a relaxing shower, or walk three feet without hearing your name called. You walk around like Terminator, scanning every thing and every person who comes into contact with your child, assessing their potential threat.  Neighbor kid:  OK.  Bottle of bleach:  Danger!  Cat:  We'll see.

But there are the rewards you hear of. Before having a child, when I heard that parenting was hard work but also rewarding, I had no idea what either of those meant. In my mind, hard work might be cleaning poopy diapers or slapping a band-aid on a skinned knee and a reward might be a cute drawing hung on the fridge. Now I now hard work includes teaching manners and morals, preparing my child for the world ahead, supplementing the education she receives in school, and being there for her when a band-aid won't fix the hurt. The rewards, in reality, are different, as well. They include the impromptu hugs, the unsolicited "I love you's" and watching your child exhibit good behavior even when you're not right there prodding. Yes, I have crayon masterpieces from one end of the house to the other, and I treasure them. But the real rewards sneak up on you when you're not expecting them.

This is an xray of an expectant mother. A friend of mine's dog is expecting puppies and this is her version of an ultrasound. Now, as with my own experience, I look and look and see nothing and finally, out of frustration and embarrassment, lie and say I do. To me, it's like seeing shapes in the clouds. I see a toaster and a bunny. She swears if you look closely, you can see little heads and spines and 24 little paws. I'll take her word for it.

Ultimate sacrifice? Maybe not. Miracle? Absolutely.