to give: up.
Eating meals while they’re hot. Sleep. My waistline. My memory. Freedom to leave on a whim.
to give: deeply.
This tiny boy doesn’t ask for my surface, my almost, my sort of. From birth, he has demanded my depth.
to give: all.
All my time. All my heart. All my patience, decisions. love, priorities…My life now? Our life? Is all for him.
to give: endlessly.
The days blur together. Night is day and day is exhausting and then it’s over and another begins. They don’t end, the feeding and diapers and snuggling and burping and feeding. Neither does the love. It just plain doesn’t run out. Even when I’m in tears and Sam is screaming and Husby gets the smiles first… the love flows endless.
to give: more. til I’m empty.
Dig to the very bottom of what I know I am capable of, the end of what I have, then give more.
The funny thing is, when you’re a parent, you want to give all this and more to your child.
I get it now, Lord.
Encouragement straight to your inbox
I'd love to meet you over a picket fence in our backyards with a cup of coffee and a good story. We'd talk real life, real motherhood, and real encouragement.
Add your email below to get spam-free encouragement in your inbox. I share about the extraordinary ordinary found in mothering. Join me at the fence? I'll send you an email when blog posts come out, and occasional other updates. By the way, you can read my privacy policy here: annarendell.com/privacy.
wow that last picture shows his hands so small and the other hand so big… so much like God and us. We are small and frail compared to His majesty.
That was my thought, exactly. He is so big and good and provides all we need.
I couldn’t have said any of it better! It has hit me so many times how crazy it is that this kiddo requires my everything, depends on it. Thanks for the post, friend!
PS His eyes look SO blue! Love that I can see so much of you in this little guy already 😉
Thanks for your kind words, friend. It is just crazy, right? I hope his eyes stay blue =)
Beautiful – love the photos. So tender and real! And love all the “gives” – thank you for articulating it so honestly and earnestly.
What a beautiful post!
Absolutely beautiful. (And what a little man! I love the photos of him, such a little freshie. xo)
Thanks. Sometimes it does seem like I’m out of stuff to give, yet there always seems to be more fulled by love.
Also, could Sam get any cuter!?!