And The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us
John 1: 1-18
Disclaimer: This scripture is about Jesus. It clearly says, “…The Word was with God, and the Word WAS God.” The mothers I know ARE NOT GOD. I’m not trying to blaspheme my way into the good graces of the mothers I know. But… Jeanette and Lisa might be the closest examples I have of ‘the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.’
Jeanette: My Mom. My growth into faith continues to be a long journey and there are and have been a long series of experiences continually drawing me nearer to God. However, there is one moment that I will remember eternally. I heard a speaker describing Grace. The speaker told a story of grace manifest in his Mom. I was 17 years old, I was not looking to understand my place in the Kingdom of God, and yet… I mark that moment as a beginning of a long continuing journey of grasping the Grace of God. The reason that word, that story, meant anything at all to me, was that I recognized Grace. I knew unconditional love. I knew a mother who had become flesh, dwelled with me, and is full of grace and truth. Grace to me was a mom that would get up from sleeping, when I came home at midnight, and sit with me on the kitchen counter, until two in the morning talking, laughing, crying, encouraging, reflecting truth, and loving me in a manner that I never doubted for a second. I am 55 years old, and I have never known anything, but a steadfast deep knowledge that MY MOM loves me and would run through a brick wall for me. (which is kind of a funny to picture when you imagine her at 83 years old and 5’ nothin’) She is the quintessential example of Grace in my journey. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
Lisa: My wife. There was a time pre-kids that Lisa and I had a conversation about how we aspired to be a family that could have a full-time parent. We knew it would be hard financially, and maybe not possible. Lisa has her MBA, she had a way better job than me, and she is driven. I was sure that I was better suited to the full-time parent role. Even when Lisa decided that she would leave her job as a Marketing Manager for AT&T wireless to be a full-time parent to Annika our first born, I was convinced it would last 6 months, and she would go crazy for the challenge of using her MBA to make the Tech world a better place. Lisa, the brilliant communicator, galvanizing organization leader, and naturally gifted to initiate with people and planning, has employed all these gifts as a Mom to Annika, Nic, and David. ( Oh, and these gifts are leveraged on my behalf as well) Left to my devices our kids may not have known extracurricular activities nor playdates, they might still be wearing pajamas, birthdays would have been a grand disappointment, and most certainly all three would be brushing their teeth in the car. Thanks to Lisa, our kids are making the world a better place knowing that all Lisa does, she does because they are the beloved of their mom. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.