The first time I held my baby daughter in my arms I felt courage and determination flow into my heart. The hospital window framed the faint pre-dawn light as I nursed her and then snuggled her close. It was a moment I knew I would remember for all my life. I had never loved this fiercely before, ever, and I would do anything to protect her and take good, good care of her.
Not only did I feel an infusion of courage to face my dominating in-laws, I also felt totally, thoroughly happy. Blissful is the word. And that bliss endures to this very day whenever I see her.
This experience of falling in love with our children is common to most parents. And once our babies are all grown up and gone from our nest – but never our hearts – we have time to reflect on how giving love to our children changed us and how it benefitted us as much as them.
Why? Love floods the lover with warm and tender feelings, whether you are feeling love for your baby, a child, a pet, or another adult. There is a scientific basis for this that I did not know way back in the mid 1970s when my precious little baby girl was born. A hormone called oxytocin is released into our bodies when we experience love. Here is one explanation of this blessing God has given us.
This Bliss Hormone Can Heal Your Body: The Many Benefits of Oxytocin
A special chemical in your body, called oxytocin, helps to create the feeling of falling in love.
Sometimes referred to as the hormone of “forgetting oneself,” oxytocin plays an important role in birth, lactation, bonding, and orgasm.
The hormone of love, oxytocin, influences the digestive system as much as it influences the brain. Oxytocin has been proven to cool gastrointestinal inflammation to alleviate food sensitivities, autoimmune disorders, and even Candida infections!
Oxytocin can act like a psychological buffer. Nature wired both men and women to experience an oxytocin surge (or several) during moments of bonding with each other or their children.
Oxytocin naturally enhances a sense of:
- Optimism
- Trust
- Mastery
- Self-esteem
(retrieved from http://bit.ly/1Ph4e2E on January 20, 2016)
Simply loving my daughter for all these years has helped me far, far more than it has helped her. Being in love with my daughter has healed hurts so deep I did not know they existed. And trying to take good care of her has shaped my decisions for the good.
What is the source of all love? Chapter 4, verse 8 in First John tells us “Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love.” (New International Version) [emphasis added]. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
How like our loving Heavenly Father to make what He tells us to do be so beneficial for us. And how can we not love Him for loving us? Loving Him floods us with an even more intense feeling of bliss that truly transcends the power of words to express. Thank You, Lord!
Join me in returning this love to Him as you listen to the song “The Love of God” by Mercy Me. http://bit.ly/1V8qxWD
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is the love of God for those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:11 (NIV)
Think about it.