He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” // Luke 8:21
The morning my husband was born, his mom went fishing. She floated peacefully in the boat across from her sweet husband and watched him bait his hook, then cast out again and again. The April Arizona air provided for a chilly morning, but the sun warmed everything perfectly as it rose, giving indications of the warmer temperatures to come. They spent the day basking in the sun and cool waters of the lake, sharing a picnic before strolling back to shore, completely unaware that the birth of their first-born son was taking place in a hospital just miles away.
Days later my mother-in-law got a call from the adoption agency that my husband had been born and was waiting to be picked up.
My husband was given a beautiful life with a mother and father, sister and brother who loved and cared for him perfectly. Their relationship was defined not by blood, but by action, and more specifically by the action of love.
When I look at my four children, I too want them to experience my motherhood as one that is not based on genetics, but rather action. To be a mother, or a sister or brother, is a relationship of great intimacy and one that is forged not simply by proximity or bloodline, but by the daily choices we make to love.
Lord, help me to be a mother and a sister to more than just those with whom I share a name. Help me to extend my familial circle by loving both more deeply and more widely, knowing that that source of love comes from You and is eternal.
Love comes from You. // Dr. MaryRuth HackettClick to tweet
Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett is a writer, national speaker, and podcast host covering topics in psychology and faith. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and works at the important intersection of faith and developmental science, blending them in the original harmony God intended. Dr. Mary Ruth is the author of Daughter by Design: Discovering Your Identity as God's Beloved Daughter, and co-coauthor of Spiritual Discernment for Beginners: Learning to Hear God and Defeat the Lies of the Enemy. She is a contributing author to All She Had and our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
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