Why: 'A Labor of Love'?

I saw this statement recently on Pinterest during one of my not-so-productive breaks and it hit me hard. It was a picture of a mother-to-be holding a little card that said “Labor of Love” in front of her pregnant belly. I was immediately brought to tears because this photo struck me on multiple levels. For one, it was as if a million words had been encapsulated in three tiny little words. Two, I am currently pregnant. Three, that statement doesn't just apply to carrying a baby for 9 months. That got me thinking about what those 3 simple words meant for me. It is also the inspiration for the name of my blog.

May those three words truly be the prayer for my life.

As a wife, it’s a labor of love to make meals, wash the laundry, submit to and support my husband. As a mother-to-be, it’s a labor of love to eat healthy, to protect my precious 'mtoto' (nickname), to get the rest and exercise I need. As a student and working woman, it’s a labor of love to work diligently even when I don’t feel like it one bit.

It isn't always easy. So how can it be a labor of love? What is my motivation?

My laboring is in vain if the source of my motivation is wrong. 

If it weren't for the One whose labor of love surpasses all. That One is God. John 3:16 says that “God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” He sacrificed his ONLY son so that we might live forever with him in eternity one day. Today, He is still laboring in love. We, His beloved children wander about on this planet we call Earth, trying to find true love, true hope, true satisfaction in life and yet we keep looking to the wrong things. We look to food, friends, spouses, work, sports, money, etc. for that fulfillment only to be left feeling empty. Our Father looks down, graciously watching over us, laboring in love to show us day by day how much He loves us and cares for us and wants us to find true satisfaction in him. He is the bread of life, He is the living water that never runs dry, He is the Good Shepherd that guides us by still waters, He is my God who loves me in my disgusting filthy rags of sin and self-righteousness.

His model and His labor of love is the example I want to follow. His love for me creates in me a response of worship, honor, and service for Him.

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men."

As a wife, mother-to-be, working woman, student, and a daughter of the one true King, Jesus Christ, my prayer is that through everything I do, may it be done out of love. Done knowing that there is One even greater who loved me with an unconditional and everlasting love.