One mother's tenacity

And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.Mark 7:27-30

Our daughters are 31, 26, and 21. All grown up, fully adults and all capable of running their own lives. As their mother, I try very hard not to tell them what to do, but the chemical imbalance that happens to a woman once she becomes a mother is still actively firing. I want to protect them even when I cannot. Even when I drive the car and they are a passenger, I still throw my arm out to protect them, even though they do not need my arm in their fully grown face. This chemical imbalance, or whatever goes on, makes gentle women possess the ferocity of a charging bear. We transform like the incredible hulk and it is hard to have it go away once it is in place. The woman who came to Jesus on her child's behalf was adamant, insistent and full of the transformed faith that rages in mothers. She was not afraid of the rules, the social customs, nor the questions that Jesus threw at her. Love prevailed and Jesus knew the raw power of faith and love as demonstrated in this ferocious mother.

Today, I want to live with that kind of ferocious, unstoppable love that mothers and fathers have. I want to love and have faith in that way, so that my walk today might be a ferocious advocate for those who know no love, who do not know the incredible power of loves transforming grace.