Why I Think Giving Birth is Easy

Yes, I am a man and no, I’ve never given birth! However, before you crucify me for such a statement on Mother’s day take a few minutes to hear me out. I was physically present and involved at the birth of each of my five children, so I’ve been as close as a man can get to the experience of giving birth.  I have great respect for my wife, Christina, for her physical strength and endurance.

My mother gave birth 8 times and the last time she was in labor for 3 days! It’s one of the longest labors I’ve ever heard of and it probably would have cracked the toughest Navy Seal but she endured it with the occasional smile! I’m not saying that giving birth isn’t painful, I know that it is.  What I am saying is that the pain of giving birth is relatively little compared to the pain of raising a child.

Caleb on his mother’s knee in 1977

Giving birth to a child might make you a parent but it doesn’t make you a mother! You become a mother when you decide to put your personal agenda on hold and learn to sacrificially love your child under any circumstance. Often those circumstances will be painful but a real mother never gives up because she is in it for life and she knows that in the end it is worth it.

Being a mother is not about the few hours of giving birth it’s about the few decades that follow birth! Today I want to honor my mother who has sacrificially loved her children for over 4 decades! Thank you for choosing to be a mother and not simply becoming a parent!

Caleb’s mom and dad with all the Ukrainian grand-kids January 2012