Out of the Mouths of Babes: "Good Night, My Beautiful Mommy"

This story is one of a series of stories that begin with the title “Out of the Mouths of Babes.” These stories celebrate the Wisdom of God that can be ours when we listen to and reflect on the words that lead to worship and thanksgiving, words spoken by children. For, as Psalm 8:2-3 tells us, “O Lord, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! I will sing of your majesty above the heavens with the mouths of babes and infants...^”

Of special note, this story has been graciously shared for this series by one of the Catholic365 readers. If you have an “Out of the Mouths of Babes” family story that you would like to share, please don’t hesitate to share it in the Comment section! (Unless you state otherwise, I will assume that by sharing your story in a Comment, it is fine for me to share your story as part of this series.)

….Here then is the reader’s simple, but powerful story…

When his oldest daughter was putting her very active and smart two year old son to bed, the mother said to her son, “Good night, my little boy.”

The little boy replied, “Good night, my beautiful mommy."

At which point hearing such unexpected words spoken from her little son’s heart brought tears to the young mother's eyes.

….And I admit that this beautiful story brought tears to my eyes, too!

Without a doubt, God speaks to us in many ways, including through the lips of our children. In addition to the wonderful affirmation the reader’s daughter received from her son, she no doubt got that affirmation, too, (through her son) from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Why, do you think, did the mother cry at those affirming words? Why, do you think, are we so moved when someone expresses heartfelt admiration and love for us…especially when that Person is God?

I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, I think, it’s a matter of knowing how sinful; of how undeserving I am. And yet that kind of attitude, rather than being a humble one, can actually be a sign of pride—of being too much a perfectionist.

How much we hurt those who offer a heartfelt word of sincere affirmation when we refuse to accept their words--by contradicting them, or even minimizing them.

We need to learn, as the reader’s daughter shows us, how to graciously and gratefully accept heartfelt compliments, and to share the good news of what we have experienced. Humility is truth, and the truth for this mother is that her son finds her beautiful!

When it is God Himself Who tells us words of love, I think that the rejection or refusal to believe those words has more serious consequences. We rob ourselves of believing in a Love which strengthens us and enables us to reach out to others in love--to be inspired and energized to perform spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

In this Jubilee of Mercy, especially, let us consider…

Do I really believe that God loves me? Do I believe His Word that says that He delights over me?

“The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, Who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, Who will sing joyfully because of you.^” (Zephaniah 3:17)

When I look at the Crucifix, do I believe that Jesus died out of love for me?

Do I believe that although I am not (and never will be) a perfect child of God, He loves me anyway?

For those of us who have--or have not (yet)--been parents and became teary-eyed, too, reading this story, as we grieved that little children never have and perhaps never will express that kind of love and gratitude to us, God says, never mind—I love you!

(Surely, too, for those of us with children, He would allow us to think of our sons and daughters in place of our mother and father in the following passages.)

“Even if my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in."(Psalm 27:10)

“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you…” (Isaiah 49:15-16)

Not hearing words of loving affirmation from family and friends can be a special cross, I think, because it makes it harder to believe that God loves us. It’s easier to believe that God loves us when the humans in our lives express that love, as the reader’s daughter was privileged to hear from her son, who called her beautiful.

But even when we don’t hear those words from our children or other family members and friends in our lives, let us remember that we have been “wonderfully made” by God, and that having been made in His Image and Likeness, we are beautiful in His sight.

“You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. My bones are not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

The reader’s daughter in this true story is a teacher, who, the reader said, spends a lot of time conversing with her son, teaching him lots of words. Interesting, isn’t it that she likely provided him the vocabulary he used to affirm her motherhood!

God wants to teach us His Word, His Vocabulary. Let us use this story as a reminder to immerse ourselves in God’s Holy Word, to teach it to our children, and to speak His Loving Words back to God and to others in His Holy Name.

When was the last time we paid God homage-compliments? When was the last we used the Psalms of praise to tell Him that we recognize His Goodness?

Likewise, God has given us His own Beautiful Mother to be our mother. When was the last time we thanked her and told her how beautiful she is?

Let us affirm each other with sincere words that are true, and let us listen for when God speaks words of affirmation to us in the words spoken by others, including those spoken out of the mouths of babes--Godly words of love spoken to us by our children.

May God bless you! And may you have no doubt that God loves you--even if a child never tells you so!