“This is the best trip I’ve been on Mom,” says John Holm. He pauses and then says “well, except for maybe Disney World.”
In a very spontaneously planned trip, my
eldest son and I traveled to Haiti last week. For me it was work that beckoned, for John it was a chance of a lifetime
for an 11-year-old to see how another culture, one less fortunate than his,
lives.
As I dug deeper into why this was John’s favorite trip yet, it was the
one-on-one time with his mother – ME! That made it the best, he explained. We saw a lot of new things; we placed
ourselves in some fairly uncomfortable situations, we ate dinner at the home of friends, worked on and designed some great new products for Glory Haus, drank
quite a few Cokes made with REAL sugar, slept little, rode on four planes, and were HOT and dusty the whole time. All things we have done in other places, but not just John and I
together, alone. So what I realized is
that in our house of three children, my children all need special time
individually with their parents. They
need us, their parents, to uniquely know
them.
The day before I left for Haiti I had
been at a birthday party where I witnessed an unbelievably tender moment
between a 90-year-old grandfather, and his grown and married granddaughter. The exchange between the two left my emotions out of
control. It was such a
picture to me of how our Father God loves us each so personally and
tenderly.
When John was recounting why this trip to
Haiti was his favorite yet, I was drawn back to that tender moment and was
reminded that all of us want to be known ultimately by our Father God. And the best way this Godly Love can be
communicated to our children is through personal relationships with each
of them. Our children want to be known
deeply by their parents! Just as we want
to be known by our Heavenly Father.
Although John and I witnessed life
changing things, my takeaway was that as a mom of three, I need to know my
children individually and do things with each individually – they crave this
one-on-one time. And in the busyness of
this crazy thing called life, we can often get caught up with too much doing
instead of being. As a mom, my highest
calling is to nurture my boys’ hearts
to be tender and for them to know all the days of their life that they are special,
unique and loved. I was reminded this
week that being a Mother is a Holy Privilege!
Thank you Lord for continuing to string
together events in my life that constantly remind me you love me and that you
are calling out the very best in me, to love greatly, deeply and individually
those around me.
Haiti, thank you for the time you gave me and John together. I am forever
GRATEFUL!
-Molly Holm
