The day I became a mother was the final break of my heart. Over the course of nine months, my heart was being molded, shaped, squished and slowly broken. You see, the moment my daughter came into this world was the moment my heart was no longer mine. It was the moment my heart shattered into a million pieces for this little tiny being laying on my stomach. It was the moment that my heart was literally taken out of my being and placed inside this tiny bundle called a baby.
I have watched over the course of almost 5 years my heart literally learn to roll, crawl, walk, talk, learn to use a toilet, build blocks, run, climb, learn to write and now is learning to add and subtract. There are moments of overflowing, uncontainable joy as well as moments of pure anguish where I feel helpless in the face of sickness and danger. Motherhood is both gloriously wonderful and painful; I suspect more pain will come as she grows older. But that’s the thing, she gets to grow older.
Motherhood has changed my heart. I feel drawn to women near and far that are on this same journey. Sometimes we laugh together at the things our children say, sometimes we release the insecurities we have about raising these beings, sometimes we cry when their innocence is lost or we’ve had to say goodbye way too soon!
Today, I cried.
I cried for a Solange, a mother I have never met but whose story my heart aches for. I cry as I listen to my daughter playing in the background, knowing she will celebrate her 5th birthday in just two days. I cry with this mother as she says goodbye to not one daughter, but two. And yet, she still has to go home to her other two children wondering what she will feed them.
Sometime people do not understand the correlation between running and finding child sponsorships. The core of why I run is for my daughter, to be around for a very long time and to be a healthy example to her.
I run because I am a mother.
If my child was in danger, suffering from malnutrition, diarrhea, kidnapped or any other horrible thing, I would want, hope, plead for someone to help me help her.
I run because I am a mother.
Solange’s two daughters, Esther and Rebecca, are real children with real deaths, most likely preventable deaths. As a mother, I am not okay with that. I may not be able to solve poverty in one marathon, but if I can help one mother feed one child, help one mother celebrate her child’s 5th birthday, help one mother sleep well at night knowing her child will be safe, healthy, fed, educated and so much more, then my heart if full.
I run because I am a mother and I am not okay with a child going without food, clean water, education, medicine, a blanket and more. I want, my heart requires, looking in the face of my almost 5-year-old propels me to help. Would you join me in changing one child’s life? Would you consider bringing peace to one mother’s heart?
Consider SPONSORING A CHILD through Team World Vision!
Read more about Solange’s story here.
rachel martinez 