"i invite YOU in": UNCONDITIONAL PARENTS (a TRIBUTE to my MOTHER)

It's true, you never really know what you've got until it's gone. But also, in some situations, it takes being gone to realize what you've got. Being back in Florida with my family for the first time in 6 years has taught me a humbling lesson about the void that I left my parents with since I've been gone.Other family members, who are here with us now, (and were here in years past) have told me privately how both my mother and my father have a different type of vacation relief this time around. You see, it's as if--for the past 5 Florida trips--they've left behind a "peace" of luggage that was locked up and couldn't be opened. And that luggage was me. Though I was l physically locked up and spiritually free, to my parents, I was locked away without a key. I mean, they knew I was where God needed my presence, but my absence created a void that only a parent could experience.You see, it was my conditional circumstances that exposed my unconditional parents. They loved me so strong and they missed me so long that it created a gap in their hearts that only God could fill as they trusted in His timing and His will. And every year--during this particular vacation time--they would feel this gap the most and I know it was during those times that God too would fill that gap the most.It's amazing to know how intimate God will be when we settle with being in His will. And I am so thankful for my unconditional parents as they weathered my conditional storm. However, considering the day, I have to touch directly on the one parent who epitomizes unconditional affection and who, by the nature of birth, has a miraculous connection with her children. And that's the momma!I can't imagine the disconnect that my confinement produced in my mothers soul. Yet through it all, her love broke through even the thickest of walls. And with every vacation year passing, she knew that one day I would eventually be back with them. The prolonged anticipation. The emotional waiting. The slow hurting.....but now the instant healing.The pain of the separation was apparent on both sides, but I can confidently conclude that the joy of the completion--me back by their side--has been even greater on my parent’s side. Only a parent, but especially a mother, would feel the absence of a child at an entirely different level. But my mother persevered in prayer and forged forward by faith, knowing that God works all things together for good because of His amazing grace.So here we are, as a family unit, six years later. And on this Mother's Day, I know my dearest moms heart has a different type of vacation relief. I'm not talking about a conditional peace based on the beautiful weather and setting. But a type of peace that my mom got from weathering the gap that existed between my incarceration and their vacation. And that's why she, Andrea Maher, is my unconditional mother.