A Mother's Touch

Last night was a bit unusual. Normally, Ny-Cee goes to sleep around 11:30p.m or 12 midnight and will sleep until 6:00a.m. Well, last night around 3:00a.m. I was awakened by her faint whimpers and cries. I laid in the bed a few more minutes to see if she would go back to sleep. She did not and I lifted her out of her bassinet, at the foot of our bed, changed her diaper and laid her in the bed next to me. As I was feeding her, I noticed that she went back to sleep about 10 minutes after the process had begun.

Approximately one (1) hour later, she was fast asleep (I was still awake) so I lifted her out of my bed and returned her to the bassinet. She slept rather fitfully for the next 1 hour and 30 minutes or so. Then she began to cry. Once again, I lifted her out of her bed and placed her in the bed next to me. Within five (5) minutes, she was sound asleep again.

As this scenario played out, I was instantly reminded of times as a child where I left my bed to go get into my mother’s bed. My father would leave for work very early in the morning and almost instinctively, my sisters and I would leave our beds and pile into the bed with my mother. About three (3) weeks ago, we did the same thing. My father left for work and we (my youngest sister, me and my daughter) were all sleeping peacefully in the house. Just like when we were children, my sister and I arose and went to my mother’s bedroom and climbed into the bed with her. The only difference this time was that one sister was replaced by a granddaughter. We laid there for hours, laughing and talking, seeking my mother’s advice and listening to stories from tales long, long ago. Like Ny-Cee last night, we needed our mother’s touch.

I realized that nothing was wrong with my daughter. At first, I thought that perhaps she was feeling ill. She was fine physically—emotionally she just needed her mother. There have been times in my life when I needed my mother’s touch. My mother is never more than a phone call away but it is not the same as curling up in the bed next to her and listening to her words of wisdom. My mother lives over 800 miles away and I know individuals whose mother has gone home to be with Jesus. But I have gained a peace in knowing that when I can not crawl into my mother’s bed for her touch, I can crawl into the arms of Jesus for his touch.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] John 14:27 (amplified version)

When life turns to chaos and confusion is knocking on your door, meditate on these words and let Jesus’ touch be that mother’s touch you need at that time.