Instincts

I have found that the stairs on ferries are very steep and slippery when wet, so I am always cautious when using them, especially while wearing high heels, which is most of the time. I never claim to be smart, just fashionable.

The last time I traveled by ferry I was walking down to the bottom deck from the sunny top deck I felt the stairs shake and heard the person behind/above me falling.

Just like when mothers instinctively reach their right arm across the passenger’s side seat when suddenly stopping to protect their passengers, I, without thinking first, crouched down to assume a sturdy stance and reached out to grab whomever was falling. When I turned around to see what was falling my way I saw a very large, heavy, muscle bound, body-builder of a man getting to his feet. He just looked at me in shock that I would even consider catching him, then smiled and said, "that was a sweet gesture, but I doubt if little YOU could have caught ME".

We both stood their laughing and eventually went our separate ways.

Instincts are fascinating to me, especially those type of motherly instincts.

I remember when my friend Mary was 10 weeks pregnant. She had been married for several years and before that she had a career as a Broadway singer/dancer. She lived a ‘selfish’ lifestyle, by her own admission. When she was 10 weeks pregnant, she got a hold of me at church, took me aside and started bawling her eyes out. She didn’t think she could be a mother. She didn’t feel ‘motherly’. She thought that she would resent never working on Broadway again.
After she vented I smiled and told her that towards the end of her pregnancy she would feel much different, that an instinct will come over her and she will become protective and ‘motherly’. And we prayed together. I’m not sure if she totally believed me, but she seemed more relieved.

Mary is a stay at home mom of two children now and whenever we get together she brings up that meeting we had and laughs. She is one of the best moms ever. I’ve asked her if she misses her career at all and she always says, "no way, this is sooooo much better".

In what ways do you find your instincts come out?