Observe the natural world and you can see that God places instincts in mothers — of all species — to nurture and care for their children. I watched a robin nest in one of our apple trees this spring. The mother robin vigilantly sat on the nest and watched over the eggs, then the two hatchlings. She kept them fed and warm and safe. As they grew to fledglings, the mother robin would perch nearby and scold me with loud chirps whenever I came near the tree in my gardening work or stood on tiptoes to peer at the speckled little robins.

I saw the same motherly instincts at play recently in Rocky Mountain National Park. In a grassy meadow in the early evening a herd of elk cows grazed. At first glance I didn’t see the babies. Then I noticed the perky ears and heads sticking up from the tall grass where many newborn calves lay waiting for their mothers to have their fill of grazing and come feed them. … The calves started calling with cute little sounds that said, “Mommy, I’m hungry.” Then a mother elk responded and moved in among the grassy nursery of calves.

She smelled and kissed one baby after another until she recognized her own child.

And then it was dinner time.

I’m thanking the Lord for the instincts he has given mothers — both human and animals creatures —to nurture, feed, and care for our young.

~ Catherine Lawton