Parents never stop! Several years ago my work took me close to where my dear mother was living. This was special for the both of us, because for years I had lived thousands of miles away from her, not intentionally of course, but just because life took my wife and me to Germany, Arizona, and then to Hawaii where we started a family. From time to time, my work would occasion an opportunity to visit with Mom and with each visit a reaffirmation that she is always my mom and forever will be so. Her love for me is an everlasting love. On this one occasion, with my mother well into her years of retirement, I remember arriving at her back door and walking with my suitcase into the kitchen. Immediately after a warm declaration of joy, she immediately kicked into gear as a mom and did something she has so often done. She said, "Sit! You must be hungry. What can I fix you to eat!" Before I could blink three times, a sandwich was there before me with a glass of milk and an apple cored and cut into slices. Amazing! The guest room was all prepared with clean linens on the bed and fresh towels laid out in the guest bathroom. My dear Mom, with all six of the children she brought into this world has never stopped being Mom. For each one of us, we are her "kids" and her maternal instincts remain undiminished.
My children are now in their late twenties. They are now well into adulthood. They are very mature, wise, and capable adults. Nevertheless, I can't help myself. When I am with them, they remain my "kids". My wife and I refer to them often as such. We can't help ourselves. We love them so much and our paternal inclinations remain unabated. Alas! Parents never stop being parents! Actually, it is a wonderfully illuminated reality when it dawns upon one's consciousness. I am their father and I always will be. It is only matched by their awareness that I am their father and will always be, and will always love them with a father's love.
The Lord God our Father says "I have loved you with an everlasting love." (Jeremiah 31:3) What a wonderful moment in our lives when that reality hits home and we fully realize our Father God's love for us! He never stops being our Father! He never stops loving us with a pure and perfect love, a holy love! What a joy and blessing! Reflecting on my mother's love that day that she fixed me a sandwich and a sliced apple, I am reminded that love is not merely a feeling expressed. Love is an action. She did not merely express her joy. She met what she believed to be my need. She fed me within minutes of my arrival! How like God she is in her love for me! For God so loved us, he came to us and showed through great sacrifice and absolute humility as a suffering servant his unreserved love. He met our greatest need for forgiveness, reconciliation, restoration, and life eternal. I am so grateful for my mother's love by which I come to know in the most tangible ways the Father's love for me his child, a love I pass on to my children so they can pass it on to theirs.
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