A Mother's Love

You’ve all heard the analogies and the poems expressing the love that a mother has for her child. It’s true. The love that is shown by a mother to her children is inexpressible and true. I’ve always known that. I have a mother that shows that kind of forgiving love to me.
I've never seen a mother's love as amplified as I have seen it here. You know that children with special needs have a hard time in the States being accepted and loved by society, and sometimes, even their own families. All the mothers that I have met and observed here have a love for their child with special needs that melts my heart. It humbles me and amazes me.
They are so poor, some living in tiny houses made of scrap metal and wood, doing everything they can just to survive. Despite their circumstances, despite the trials that they face every day, they love their children, especially their child with special needs. It would be easy for them to hand them off to an orphanage, abandon them. Their lives are challenging, their stories heartbreaking, their children precious. Yet still they press on and love with all they are.
Like I said, we think that some children have it bad in the States, and some children do struggle in the States. Nothing compares to the struggles of a child with special needs here. It's drastic, real, and tragic. The mothers don't have lifts in their homes to move their child around the home, they don't have wheelchairs to get them around the neighborhood, they don't have handicap accessible vans, and they don't have houses considered adequate for occupying a person with special needs.
These mothers carry around their children everywhere, no matter how big they are. They have no choice. You should see some of the kids at the school. It's not that they're big-most of them are as thin as a rail. They are just long and with the way that their bodies are because of their disabilities, it's not always easy to pick them up and keep a good grasp on them. If you've ever worked with a person with a severe disability, such as severe Cerebral Palsy, you know what I'm talking about.
As I was talking to another person at the school today (who's American), we were discussing this very thing. How long are these mothers going to be able to do this? Their backs eventually aren't going to let them, and they're going to have severe problems when they keep lifting their children despite their pain. They do it despite their pain.
They love tirelessly, smile despite their circumstances, and what do I get out of it?
A challenge! What if I loved like that? No matter how much pain (physical or otherwise) it causes me, to love my enemies, and not only my enemies, but everyone around me.
When my body or my mind says "I can't take it anymore!", I press on and keep on loving!
So much easier said than done, but a good challenge none the less.

Thanks so much for reading...love you all!
Rachel