The Miracle of Motherhood

The Lord works in strange and mysterious ways.

So many of us long for connection, that one special link that bridges us to one another and keeps us together forever and ever.

A few years ago when I transferred my daughter from private to public school, I received a notice from the school district that the parents could (in the event of the unthinkable) have identification cards made for our children. It would include all the usual information. I promptly filled out the application, and in anticipation of receiving the card, paid for extras. One for me, one for my husband, one for my daughter to carry in her little girl wallet, and another to keep on the bookcase. It would be there for me, as I dusted and perhaps looked for a book; my daughter's smiling face would gaze up at me as I went about my chores.

Weeks went by and I eventually received a package from the school containing the four i.d. cards for my daughter. I scanned the cards and looked at all the identifying features. Apparently the person who took down my daughter's information found something that I had not. She had a beauty mark between her index and middle finger at the base of her left hand. When she came home from school that day I marveled that this little person that I cherished and loved had a mark that I was unfamiliar with. I thought that I knew every precious inch of her. I was wrong.

A few week ago as I was smoothing lotion over my very dry hands, I looked deeply at my right hand. What was that between the index and middle finger on my right hand?? A small dark mark. I tried to scrap it away with my fingernail. It was still there!
It was a beauty mark, the same as the one my daughter had, but on different hands.

It may not seem like much to anyone else, but my heart burns with the joy of that connection to my daughter. Yes, she is mine and yes, it may be slight, considered a coincidence by many. But to me it signifies something greater. I am the mother, and she is my daughter; flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. Nothing can ever change that. We are one, and always will be. A million miles away from her and I will know if she is happy or sad, sick or well. In silence we can call to one another and I will always hurry to her side.

A mother always will.