"Once a mom, always a mom..."
Yup!  Especially when you have sick kids!
Today, our twenty-one year old son is home sick from work.  He's got a cold and persistent cough, so he decided to stay home and sleep.
Our twenty year old daughter texted from college (four hours away) to say she's got the stomach flu!  I asked if she has anyone there taking care of her and she replied, "I'm a big girl-I can clean up my own puke!"  Wow!  What a comfort!  NOT!
Even when my married son who lives a province away, mentions he's ill, I get that familiar motherly-pang of sympathy and the need to offer some level of care.
When will that instinct cut out?
From my understanding, it never will.  My own mom offered to help me after I had surgery this past spring and I'm forty-seven!  A mom shows love through caring for needs.  Now, it may not take the practical forms of administering medications and keeping the ice cream bucket nearby!  So then, what form does the "mothering instinct" take when our sick kids are actually adults?
Prayer.
Since the first confirmation of pregnancy with Mark, I have prayed for him.  The same almost involuntary desire to pray for Daniel and Caylea began with that same discovery of their existences in my womb.  No matter what my children are facing, whether illness, school stresses, friend crises or decisions for their futures, I am praying for them!  Knowing their Heavenly Father is taking care of them, especially when I am many miles away, is a comfort both to my heart and hopefully to theirs, as well.
I am so thankful that I can be a good mom through prayer, even when that seems so "inactive".  But it is most effective!
"Once a praying mom, always a praying mom..." (and dad, too!)
God bless you parents out there.  God hears our prayers!