What you’re doing matters

Thank you to my friend Amy who sent this to me. I can't stop listening to this. It turns me into a blubbering mess by the end, and I sign up for a repeat performance almost immediately.

I can't tell you the depth for my love for my son. I ache for the tenderness of his sweet voice, his mild smiles, his peaceful eyes. The bliss in his laughter, the warmth of his body and the way he exclaims, "Momma!" with joy each day that I walk in the door.... these are the things that bring me to my knees each day, when I humbly pray to God and thank Him for His Grace, a gift unearned, of my son Oliver.


Here's the transcript. It was written by Katherine Center.

WHAT I WOULD TELL HER:  (If I knew what to say.)

You are a miracle.

And I have to love you this fiercely:  So that you can feel it even after you leave for school, or even while you are asleep, or even after your childhood becomes a memory.

You’ll forget all this when you grow up.  But it’s okay.

Being a mother means having your heart broken.

And it means loving and losing and falling apart and coming back together.

And it’s the best there is.  And also, sometimes, the worst.

Sometimes you won’t have anyone to talk to.

Sometimes you’ll wonder if you’ve forgotten who you are.

But you must remember this:  What you’re doing matters.

And you have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs.

The truth is, being a woman is a gift.  Tenderness is a gift.  Intimacy is a gift. And nurturing the good in this world is a nothing short of a privilege.

That’s why I have to love you this way.  So I can give what I have to you.  So that you can carry it in your body and pass it on.

I have watched you sleep.  I’ve kissed you a million times.  And I know something that you don’t, yet:

You are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day.

And my greatest hope for you, sweet child, is that I can teach you how to write a good one.