No Deeper Love than a Mother's Love
- Fiona Keene
- Dec 24, 2015
- 3 min read
Looking at my baby boy sometimes, I feel like just eating him up. Sometimes hubby makes fun of me and says I am obsessed. If I am being honest with myself, I do not think am far away from that accusation. I mean just look at him! (You will notice that every mother believes her child to be so adorable, we honestly cannot help it). I am sure a lot of us have these exact moments or look forward to them. I will tell you what, when I was getting married, I was madly in love with my husband, when I met this little guy, sigh, there is no greater way of expressing the love I have for him or how far I would go to make sure he has everything he needs and he is okay. Now before we go any further, I would like to clarify that we are talking about love between humans and this discussion is therefore in no comparison to the love God has for us.
Genesis 3:16 talks of how God punished us (women) for tempting Adam to eat from the forbidden tree. He said He "will greatly increase" our labour pains. The same God had mercy on the Hebrew women who still went through labour pains more swiftly. Which goes to show how merciful He is. From my experience, a mother’s love is not far from the love of God for us. A mother's love is like that of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and am sure if you are a mother you will agree. It is the kind of love that has no boundaries.
The hard part sometimes, is knowing when to draw the line. My little man is cheeky and as young as he is, he can feel the love from my husband and myself. So he does push our buttons sometimes. So unfortunately, I have had to introduce our famous Proverbs 13:24 scripture of parenting, and incorporate the saying that goes, "spare the rod and spoil the child". The truth is, this is a stage that I did not expect for at least another 2 years. As mothers or mothers to be some would think this to be very cruel and none constructive in raising a child, whilst most Africans will agree with it. Question is how long can the naughty corner work for, and if they are too young should we really beat them? My method is 80% warning and 20% execute punishment. As he gets older and wiser, this ratio will be the reverse. I have seen improvement and better response once I threaten to bring out the "garri turner" (wooden spoon).
As a young mother I cannot really advice beyond this and hopefully we can learn from other mothers’ experiences, but I always think to myself, I do not want my baby to be the one that people frown at because he or she is misbehaving. I want my baby to be the example. Jeremiah is very likeable however; I think his personality contributes a lot to that. So in the mean time, I am going to love him like crazy whilst showing him how to be the best man he can be, even if it means brining out the “garri turner” and disciplining him African style.
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