Liam

Like all of you I was affected by the sacrificial love displayed by the mothers we profiled the last two weeks.  These women spend their lives for their children and have endured trials I simply cannot relate to.  I can only admire the grace of God at work in their lives and be provoked by their example. It will be wonderful to see these women receive their eternal rewards on that last day and hear “well done” by our Lord and Savior.  I’ll be cheering them on from the back!

For me mothering has not been a test of significant trials or life threatening diseases. My little boys have not experienced any sickness beyond the normal coughs, colds, ear infections and stomach viruses.  We have been blessed with good health. I know that it’s a gift we do not deserve and I am freshly inspired to be grateful for it.

That being said, motherhood has not come to me without its own set of temptations to fear and anxiety. These temptations come to all of us - just in different shapes and sizes.   Mine are small, but left to myself and my sinful thinking they can become very big.

One small, yet often-too-big fear is about my middle son, Liam.  At an early age, Brian and I began to notice some delays in his speech. When we would go to his doctor and answer the standard questions he was never falling in the “normal” range. In fact, the doctor’s developmental questions almost seemed designed to exacerbate my fears. (You know the ones I’m talking about - Does your child stack blocks? Draw a circle? Say twenty words or more?) By two years of age, Liam was still not talking much or answering my questions- he would simply repeat the question back to me.

At times, I would respond to these delays with fear and anxiety. I wanted him to be typical, just like any other kid. I would worry about his future.  Would he be able to grow up and become a husband, father, and provide for a family? These are not bad things to want for our children. But I was not trusting God for the perfect way he had created my Liam.   

God’s Word and his promises always speak to our fears.  Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Psalm 139:13 says “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Our heavenly Father forms our children according to his perfect design.  That is a truth in which we can rest.

Today, my Liam is four years old, and his speech is improving thanks to special education classes offered through the county. I still don’t know what his future holds, but I do know that whatever God’s plans are for Liam - they are full of hope.