Once all of her kids were out of the house, my mom redecorated the upstairs bedrooms with antique furniture. One of the beds required a specially sized foam mattress. My sister and I normally visited our parents together, so we fought over who would have to take the “sunk bed.” We both despised the mattress because our rumps would inevitably fall into the hole formed over the years.

While in the hospital for the birth of my first child, I lucked out with a “sunk bed,” where countless of other moms had sat. But it didn’t bother me. When I looked at my daughter, I finally understood how much God really did love me because my love for her was so great. I had known the infinite love of God only in theory. It had finally “sunk” in.

We really only have one responsibility as Christian disciples, and that is to share the vastness of God’s love.

—JoEllen Windau-Cattapan is the Atlanta area director for the Contemplative Leaders in Action, a program of the Office of Ignatian Spirituality, USA Northeast Province.