As a child, one of my favorite movies was Sleeping Beauty. A sweet, simple, beautiful girl who could talk to animals, was beloved by a man the first time he saw her, and got to be rescued and live happily ever after was exactly who 5-year-old Michelle wanted to be.
As I’ve grown up, I realize how much I truly hate the idea of love at first sight. No one can know the heart and soul of a person so completely by looking at them that they have an infatuation that leads to any sort of stability. If we’re being honest, not many Disney Princess romances have roots that would lead to good marriages.
But I can safely say, now, that I do believe in love at first sight. I have experienced it. And I have only come to love this person more and more since getting to know him.
My son.
From the first moment I saw the two lines on the pregnancy test, I loved my little boy more than I ever knew I could love a person I’d never met.
When I saw his tiny body wiggling among the black and gray patterns on the screen during the first ultrasound, I knew I was looking at someone I would die for.
From the second I saw my squirming, screaming, naked child, I wanted to give my whole life to him.
The thing about an unborn or a newborn baby is that he is the pinnacle of innocence. He has no ill intentions, no shady backstory, no crippling baggage, no annoying habits. Instead of these things, he is nothing but goodness. He is pure. He is wonderful.
True love is willing the good of the other, and requires intense sacrifice. We all know that in our relationships and marriages. The love for a child is no exception. It’s easy to feel the oxytocin and happy endorphins when I see my baby boy, but loving him is hard. There are days that I struggle to do anything besides take care of him, days I need to hand him to my husband when he gets home and pass out on the couch. There are days I wonder if I would rather still be a childless 23-year-old instead of a young mother.
But my son is worth every sacrifice I’ve ever made for him, and so much more. Falling in love with him at first sight was no mistake. He is goodness and innocence. He is beauty itself.
We cannot immediately, safely, love someone who may turn against us. But we can fall in love at first sight with something truly good and beautiful. A baby reflects the inherent goodness and beauty of God and His love for us. The baby’s life is a direct result of our working in harmony with His perfect design for us in His image and likeness. We can fall in love easily, safely, with God and His goodness in our lives. And this, truly, is love at first sight.
