Love Burst

Max Lucado refers to it as a "love burst." Out of the blue, an overpowering feeling of love washes over you, forcing you to stop and be thankful.

Yesterday, I took my daughter and our two Korean kids (former foreign exchange students returning for the holidays) ice skating. No sooner had they made their first loop around the rink when I was hit out of nowhere with a sudden love burst. The world stopped. Tears leapt to my eyes. I was filled with gratitude for the opportunity I had been given to raise my daughter.

As I watched her graceful form glide across the ice, I remembered her little feet toddling across my carpet for the first time. Her smile, so bright and confident now, was bewildered and sad on that fateful day when she was dropped into my home. We do not have a perfect mother-daughter relationship, but our bond is strong and she has been surrounded by security and love for as long as she has been with me. Not only my daughter, she is also my friend.

So there I sat, on the sidelines of a skating rink, reminiscing and covertly wiping away tears. You just never can tell when a love burst will hit you.