New Mom, Crazy Mom?

This picture was taken almost one year ago!  So I've been a mom for almost a year now, and it's still so "new" to me.  Every phase they go through brings something new with it.  I love that about being a mother- watching my son experience LIFE for the first time.  There is such a newness about everything; it almost feels like I've been reborn.  One of my very favorite things is cuddling with my son.  I'd like to caption this photo as "The First Cuddle."  In reality, it was probably the 37th cuddle or something, but for all intents and purposes this snapshot will forever remind me of the very first one.

Well, the last thing I want is for this blog to be all about me.  Boring!  So let's play a game:
I want you to stop and picture the most precious person in your life.  This will be someone different for each of you- maybe your son or daughter, husband or wife, mom or dad, grandparent, niece or nephew, etc.  I know it may be difficult to just pick ONE, but that's how the game works today.  Now think of a time that you held each other in your arms.  It could've been in a moment of joy or sorrow, rain or shine, at a special occasion or on a very normal day.  Are you in that moment?  Where were you?  What sights, smells, and sounds surrounded your embrace?  Could you feel the love?

Ok- stop the daydream.  Now let your mind go somewhere completely different- hang in there- I promise there's a prize at the end of this game.  Think of a time when that very same person let you down.  Do they ever frustrate you?  Do they know how to push your buttons?  Come on, be honest.  They're not perfect, right?  Even my 11-month old knows how to be stubborn and get his way.  Most of the time it makes me laugh, but I know there will come a day when he will do something that makes me sad.  It's inevitable.  We're human.

At this point, you might be thinking I'm crazy.  Sometimes I think I'm going crazy- like when I can't sleep at night when my baby is finally sleeping peacefully....or when I get a blog going in my head and can't type it out fast enough....or when I have nothing to show for myself at the end of the day because all I wanted to do was eat, play, and sleep (alongside my son!) while I let my house (and all its chores) get more and more out of control.  Believe me, I've thought about all the reasons I could be perceived as crazy.  But here's my conclusion:

The only "crazy" in my nature is this:
I'm crazy about my son!  Crazy in love.  So crazy that nothing he could ever do would make me stop loving him.  Is this how you feel about your precious someone?  Maybe they've hurt you in the past, but you forgave them because love overcomes all?

I want to take you just one more place.  Please do me this favor. 
Picture Jesus, with nail scarred hands, holding out his arms to you.  He wants to hold you, comfort you, love you.  Maybe you've done some things that you think are unforgiveable.  Maybe you think that the God of this universe could never love someone like you.  You are wrong.  He made you!  He sent His son to die for your sins so that you can be free from this guilt!  If you don't believe me, open your Bible (or Google) Psalm 139.  You were made "wonderfully complex" and for a purpose.

That crazy-love-feeling that you get for your special someone- that's the same feeling the Father has for you. 
That "newness of life" feeling I have now that I'm a mother watching her son- that's the feeling you get when you give your life over to Christ.

And the reason I choose to share this with you?  2 Corinthians 5:11-21 
Allow me to paraphrase it for you:

It is my fearful responsibility to the Lord, to work hard to persuade others of His love.  God knows I am sincere, and I hope you know this too.  If it seems I am crazy, it is only to bring glory to God.  And if I'm in my right mind, it is for your benefit.  Either way, Christ's love controls me.  Since I believe that Christ died for ALL, then I also believe that we have all died to our old life.  He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves.  Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.  Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.  And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.  So I am one of Christs's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.  I speak for Christ when I plead, "Come back to God!" 


For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.