Love Without Borders by Carla Foote, mom of 2

As we sat on the long international flight, I watched as a mom and dad and their new daughter tackled the 14 hour homecoming flight. The girl was 2-1/2 years old, from an orphanage in India, and in our hours together her parents shared about the two year process of bringing her into their family to join their two sons. Their joy was evident and I was impressed with the way they tag-teamed to cuddle, entertain, feed and nurture her during the flight.  And all of us onboard were thankful that she and a few other toddlers did sleep some during the long flight. But I knew that the challenges of parenting were longer and deeper than a 14 hour plane ride, and this family would need their reservoir of love to be refilled regularly.
I made a conscious effort to affirm the great job they were doing and to talk to the mom about MOPS. I suggested that a community of moms would give her energy and encouragement in this new phase of her mothering journey. She admitted that most of her mom connections were with families of older children, now that her boys were school-aged.

"We can be encouraged when we are down,
and we can encourage another mom
when she is down."

The great joy and love that we feel for our children does help equip us for motherhood, whether we enter motherhood through adoption or biological birth. But sometimes the feeling of love can wear thin as we face the daily challenges of life. That’s where our community of MOPS lifts us up – we can be encouraged when we are down, and we can encourage another mom when she is down.  You are part of this community now through your MOPS group, and hopefully you are taking risks and going deeper in relationships with the moms in your group.

What about the moms who don’t have this welcoming and loving community? I could just as easily have chatted with this mom and not mentioned MOPS at all, but why wouldn’t I want to share tangible and practical encouragement with a mom? We are all surrounded by moms who need love without borders, a love that invites and welcomes moms into MOPS.

Dear Lord, help me to be a mom without borders. Help me to open my arms, my heart and my prayers to moms in every circumstance, and to welcome them into community when the opportunity presents itself. Amen.