It was the most precious, perfect word I’d ever heard.  A word I dreamt of hearing for so long . . . since childhood really, when I watched and learned and knew . . . I want that.  I want to hold and cherish and  teach and adore. I want to mold and train and carry and cuddle. 

It wasn’t his first word.  It won’t be his last.  And he’s said it more times than I could possibly count in the last nine years. 

But at that moment, when he looked up at me with those chubby little cheeks and those pale blue eyes and those full, pink lips, and he said the word I’d been longing to hear for days and weeks and months and a lifetime . . .

It was my dream come true.  It was an answered prayer.  It was the fulfillment of a desire so deep I couldn’t remember when it first became the hope of my soul.  It was the most precious, perfect word I’d ever heard. 

“Mama?”

Yes.  Yes, son.  I am your mama. 

It is the most important title I will ever have, the most difficult job I will ever perform, the most terrifying, exhilarating, heart-wrenching experience I will ever know.  And next to Christ, it is the single greatest gift He’s ever given me.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas!!!