August 20, 2021
Originally written May 7, 2021
I understand that term more so now than ever. I think before, I skipped over the word labour and went straight to the word Love and My narrow perspective of what that word really meant. I’m in a place in life where a lot of things feel uncomfortable. They don’t fit what I want my life to be.
My mom passed and I inherited 2 new children. And because of my love for her, there was nothing I wouldn’t do to give her peace… She deserved it. Needless to say bringing my great nieces into the fold was like adding oil to water. Even when it looks mixed- there are still tiny oil balls all in the water. I thought to myself, all I had to do was Love them. Because I’m good at loving people. And that My love would somehow transform these two little humans into two of the most law abiding citizens there are…
But God…
There is a lesson in everything. This is gonna take more than what I have on the shelf. And at first I fought that. I took the same stance I had taken with my own kids for years. But I have begun to ask myself - How fair is that? How can I take these two birds from outside and put them in a cage, inside my home and challenge them to sing sweetly to me?? How could I expect a speeding car to stop on a dime with no skid marks… Not Possible.
But what Was possible was for me - being more tenured - to open up my eyes to the possibility of me meeting them where they are. How I wasn’t going to let my house get crazy and untamed - although it did briefly… But seeing where their minds are is a daily process. I don’t know the full extent of what everyday life was like for them. However I am trying to understand. I’m trying to HEAR them and SEE them.
So the word Labour, and for some reason that’s how I see it spelled in my mind; even though in America we spell it differently - stay with me, don’t leave me for that. :)
When you think about labour, us moms think about those exhausting hours leading up to the birth of our children. No matter how long it took, there was a process that without question had to be endured in order to get to the reward. We breathed deep and concentrated and moaned and even cried, we got tired… better yet Exhausted, WE LABOURED.
Think also about working. Jobs are very labour intensive. Physically and Mentally all jobs can require you to labour. You work hard all day within the parameters of “whats right.” If you work in a physically demanding job, the reward is seeing more completion each day. At a desk job the reward is not getting called into the sups office - I know my phone reps understand me. Because some days …. Let. Us. Pray…
So when I look at all my days with these babies, present days, I know this HAS to be a Labour of Love. Some of us don’t want to feel that. And if we are being honest it scares us. It scares us to Love someone outside of our comfort zone. To be willing to be hurt and exhausted over and over again. We are impatient for our reward. And honestly we want to pick out our prize.
But what needs to be considered is, What do these babies need? What do they need to learn? How can I assist in building or creating something rewarding for them? How can I adjust the world for them so that they start to see with eyes of Faith, Hope and Love? And How can I help prepare them to be at Peace with Labouring for that right reward…
This is new to us all. And if by some way I can be apart of the process that helps them Labour in Love sooner and learn to embrace it as a healthy part of life, that’s the reward.
You know, we talk a lot about purpose. As a means to an end. A big part of my life I have Laboured to feel love…
I remember yearning for “something” from my parents and bless their hearts, they did the best they knew how to do. And like me, before today, maybe they didn’t understand Labour of Love. But I’m Thankful, because their lack of understanding has guided my purpose to truly love people outside of their familiar zones and outside of my comfort zone. The goal is that everyone I encounter comes to know a little bit more about Love. That I somehow can shift the old perspective and crack a new level open. That in absence, distance or close proximity, they feel, know and understand love a little bit differently.
Now don’t always go looking for the big AHA moment. There is very valuable information in the fine print. The reason we miss out on how to labour through love is because it is in the fine print. It takes time to go through the fine print, it’s time consuming to go through he fine print. What are we really learning through the fine print?
The knowledge you walk away with once you have read through the fine print can’t be measured.
Labouring is going through those small steps for the greater purpose that is beyond you.
1 Corinthians 13:7 - “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
Until next time, Be Love 💖
