"Woo hoo hoo me, Mommy?"

               “Woo hoo hoo me, Mommy?”  Big brown, pleading eyes looked up at me, little arms raised expectantly.  The music was playing, the beat was lively, and my precious boy knew this as an invitation to be swept up into my arms and twirled around in a silly, wonderful, beautiful mommy/son dance, jubilantly shouting out, “Woo hoo hoo!” as we spun ourselves dizzy.

            I don’t remember the last time we engaged in the “woo hoo hoo” ritual.  But there was indeed a last time.  My little boy is big now.  On the verge of teendom, he looks me in the eye now when we stand face to face.  His little boy features are being replaced with the chiseled features of a handsome young man.  He hasn’t reached his arms out to me to be gathered up in mine for quite some time, and quite honestly, I often find myself at a loss as to how I fit in his quickly growing and changing world.  I try to hold onto the fleeting vestiges of a little boy who needs his mommy, and I am met with the sullen response of a preteen who resents being held tightly when he wants to soar.  Oh, I know he loves me… but he doesn’t “need” me.  And what is a mom if she isn’t needed?

            The sweet voice of my heavenly Father whispers to my heart.  He reminds me that the definition of my life- who I am- is not “Mom.”  First and foremost, I am Lisa, his beloved, and he has created me to be his friend, to love, and to love through.  I am not defined by what I do, but through what I do, who I am shines forth.  And what my boy needs is a mom who loves Jesus and is being transformed into a more “real” version of her true self and to love him in light of that.  He reminds me that he’ll teach me how to love my son in the manner he needs to be loved at every stage of his life, and that who I am and what I do are significant.

            “Hey, Mom, can I show you this cool ship I just built?”  Handsome brown eyes look across at me, long arms holding a monster of a Lego creation.

            “Wow,” I reply, “that’s amazing!”

            A grin comes across his face, and he begins to show me all the details and intricacies of his masterpiece.  I listen to what he’s telling me and watch the excitement on his face as he shares with me, and what I hear is, “Woo hoo hoo me, Mommy?”  And I’m most happy to oblige.