Out of all the things that “Momma Said” to her child, my favorite is “I love you!” No matter how many times you hear it – you never get tired of hearing it. And no matter how old a child gets, you never get too old that “I love you” doesn’t make you smile.
What does “I love you” mean when Momma Says it? It means not sleeping for longer than 3 hours at a time for months. It means rocking babies to sleep, kissing boo boos, and clapping and when they “go potty.” It means serving an endless number of hotdogs. (when they are in that “that’s all they will eat” phase.) It means blowing up balloons for birthday parties and letting that puppy that they just “had to have” out for the umpteenth time. It’s about dreading going through the check-out line – trying to keep little hands from grabbing things. It’s reading “Brown Bear, Brown, What Do You See?” so many times that you can quote it word for word. It’s clasping the carseat straps more times than you’d like to remember – praying for the day when they can do it themselves. It’s holding them when they get shots, and going for ice cream afterwards. It’s listening to those “goodnight prayers” that go on and on and on when they are prolonging going to bed. “Thank you, God for the trees, the grass, and the air. . .”
“I love you” means that Mommas must apply discipline and punishment – if you say that you will, you will. (“If you do that again, I’ll. . .”) You hold them when they are hurting. You hug them whether they like it or not (no matter how old they get). It means celebrating on the last day of the school year and celebrating again on the first day of school. Whew! It means doing hours of homework, trying to figure out that “new math?” “I love you” means attending hundreds of ballgames, recitals, concerts, and plays with the same enthusiasm as you had at the first one for you are their biggest fan. It is laying awake at night and finally, breathing that sigh of relief, hearing that teenager to pull in the drive. It’s beaming during graduation and crying when they go off to college.
Most of all – it’s praying day and night that your child will grow as Jesus did – in wisdom (intellectually), in stature (physically), and in favor with God (spiritually) and man (socially) (Luke 2:52) Sunday school is a family affair, and emphasis is made on “making a life” instead of “making a living.” Yes, when Momma Said, “I love you,” as a child, you had no idea what it meant, but when you have a child of your own – it becomes a little clearer. God Bless, Courtney