It took almost three years for me to become pregnant with our first child. So when it finally happened, my joy was inexplicable. I still remember the day my doctor told me that my pregnancy test was positive. I stepped out of her clinic grinning from ear to ear. I felt like I was walking on air as I rushed home to share the news with Jojo.
My first child delivery was the longest and most difficult. After 18 hours in labor, the pain was almost unbearable. But all that was forgotten when I finally held our beautiful newborn daughter in my arms.
Joy and pain – they seem to be inextricably woven together. You can’t have one without the other. Childbirth was just the first of many joy/pain experiences I went through with my eldest daughter and the other children that followed. I rejoiced at their many firsts – first tooth, first step, first word, first day in school, first graduation, first prom. I grieved at their disappointments, failures and heartbreaks.
As a parent, I want to shield my children from mistakes. But they, too, have the gift of free will. I am happy when they are able to make their own choices, but sad when those choices turn out to be wrong.
I always say, enjoy your children while they are young. All too soon, the child you nurtured in your womb for nine months becomes a person separate and distinct from you. The baby who used to cling to you will learn to walk and run. You give her wings and soon she flies.
Children can be the source of your greatest joy and the cause of your deepest pain. Yet, you continue to love, even when it hurts. As your children learn to spread their wings, you can only pray that in time, they will also learn to fly back home.
Children, obey your parents (in the Lord), for this is right. "Honor your father and mother." This is the first commandment with a promise, "that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth." (Ephesians 6:1-3)
