The Riskiest Profession on Earth

We hope you all had an AMAZING Mothers Day yesterday...This is dedicated to all you mothers out there:)

Grandma's Irises

No, the most dangerous job is not Alaskan crab fishing.  And it isn't High Rise Construction Workers either...nor lumberjacks (even though that's what my junior high aptitude test said I'd be good at...ha,ha.).  The Riskiest profession on earth is..........Motherhood. Yep!

Now, if Motherhood is so risky and dangerous, why all the pretty pictures of flowers?  Because! (That's the answer I always give my kids).  I have hundreds of irises in my backyard, and to me, they are a symbol of love.  When I spent a week taking care of my grandma, my brother was good to go out and divide Grandma’s irises and give me a bag with all different colors bulbs to take home.  Grandma died in 2010, but I still have all her irises in my yard to remind me of her.

Irises are pretty hardy flowers; they like intermittent deep watering and lots of sunshine.  The ones by my patio are a super tall variety.  When the winds come through, my beautiful row of irises can be toppled flat and stalks snapped in two.  It crushes me when that happens, probably because I love them so much.

Motherhood is like that too.  Mothers love their kids SO much!  But sometimes bad things happen that break our hearts.  This quote by C.S. Lewis sums up love well:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” 

This is why Motherhood is the riskiest profession on earth.  When we love someone, we are vulnerable.  And Mothers LOVE a lot!  That’s why Mothers have their hearts broken all the time.  It’s hard to see those you love—your own flesh and blood—be hurt by things/people/and themselves in life.  But, like Lewis says, we can’t stop loving just to keep our heart from hurting. 

The winds keep coming here in Boise, and I know they might damage my tall irises.  I could go out right now and cut down those tall stalks so that nothing bad happens in a storm.  But I would also cut off all possibility of joy I receive from those irises when they bloom.  By alleviating all possibility of harm to my irises, I would also nix all possibility of joy. 

Love has risks.  Motherhood is the riskiest venture around!  It is also the one that has the greatest rewards!  I want to thank all the hard-working, risk-taking Mothers out there who LOVE!  I’m grateful for my own mother—risking her heart to 9 children.  She’s had her heart banged up and broken a bunch through the years, but she’s tough like my irises.  A wind might knock her down, but her love just gets stronger. 

My irises keep multiplying year after year.  That’s how my Mom’s love is.  Over the years it just keeps multiplying with each new member of the family/generations that comes along.

 

Moms spread joy throughout the world.  I love my mom.  I love being a mom.  I can’t wait for the day when my own girls become moms!  The job risks are definitely worth it.