A Mother’s Love

Like many first-time moms, Amy struggles with her sense of competency
in her parenting of Jada. She often wonders whether she is doing
enough, doing right, doing well. It is not a crippling worry, but
still she worries.

Last night, I looked her in the eye and said, "Don't underestimate the
power of your love for Jada." What I meant was that as I watch my
daughter blossom, I know for sure that her being loved consistently
and deeply by a mother (and a father!) plays a big part in that
blossoming. Here is a girl who was abandoned on her second day of
life, who spent the next seven months plus being cared for in an
assembly line of other abandoned babies, who got whisked away by two
strange looking people to a strange place on the other side of the
world.

And two months later, she is bouncing and giggling, plumping up in her
belly and cheeks, learning how to crawl and stand and talk. I think a
lot of it is being loved. And whether that love is cuddling, feeding,
or kissing, Amy is piling it on Jada. I read somewhere that kids will
naturally grow – all a parent has to do is provide the soil. In
loving Jada the way Amy does, that's some rich soil to blossom in.