(Because this is a special tribute to moms, be sure to read to the end)
Exodus 20:12 (NKJV): “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
A Mother’s Love
by Michael O. Adesanya
There are times only when a Mother’s love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappointments
And calm all our fears.
There are times when only a Mother’s Love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we’ve dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.
There are times when only a Mother’s faith
Can help on life’s way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.
For a Mother’s heart and a Mother’s faith
And a Mother’s steadfast love
Were fashioned by the Angels
And sent from God above…
Take time and thank you Mom for the Love she has shown you.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of The Moms out there who has tolerated our screaming, taken care of our cuts and bruise, wiped away our tears, made us laugh, sang to us, prepared our meals, made sure we had clean clothes. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for us.
The Real Job of Moms
What about a mom’s primary job? It’s not cooking dinner, changing diapers or helping a preschooler glue colored macaroni on a coffee can as a Father’s Day gift.
The most important assignment a mom has is to nurture her children.
But what does that mean, exactly? Most of us have a vague notion about what being nurtured feels like, but here are a few specifics.
A nurturing mom goes beyond being the “maintenance person” in a child’s life. She doesn’t just keep a child clean, fed, warm, and dry. She also helps enable her children to develop fully by pouring life into them. She models joy and passion. Nurturing is filling your child up with aliveness.
It’s not a joyless, self-sacrificing caricature of Betty Crocker. A nurturing mom takes time to play, read, and take pictures when the toddler’s spaghetti ends up on the head instead of in the mouth. She enters the child’s world to see things from his or her perspective, even if it means the carpets don’t get vacuumed for a while. She provides empathetic understanding from a position of strength and support. That’s true whether she’s dealing with a toddler or a teen — except for the part about spaghetti on the head.
Like dads, though, moms have a natural urge to protect their children. That can lead them to cross the line between nurturing and futile attempts at control. One mother of twins describes her ongoing battle with this issue:
I remember when my boys were babies. I took them out for their first ride in the double stroller. Along the way, I saw a mean-looking dog running loose ahead of us. Instantly I made plans to save the lives of my children by throwing myself over their little bodies, suffering whatever injuries the dog’s sharp teeth might inflict. When the harmless dog trotted away without any attempt to attack us, I laughed at how readily my “mommy radar” had me prepared to die for my kids, without thinking twice.
Two years later, I struggled because it wasn’t so easy to keep my little ones safe. As fast-moving toddlers, they were always three steps ahead of me at the lakeside park we visited often. Either I was chasing one down to keep him from following the geese into the lake, or I was wrestling my way up the jungle gym to spot my would-be mountain climber. But I didn’t want to refuse my boys the pleasures of the playground and their freedom to explore. How often I wished to put each boy on a 200-foot leash so each could be free — within limits.
Many years later, this struggle continues. I want my 16-year-olds to drive so they can enjoy the normal freedoms and growth of other teenagers. Yet I do what I can to instill the fear of death in them to keep them on a “leash” of careful driving habits and away from daredevil maneuvers behind the wheel. Finding balance means continually going back and forth between the healthy desire to give my kids freedom and my God-given urge to keep them safe.
You can’t control the results, but you can stir in the right ingredients. You can seek to know your children as individuals, different as they might be, and bring out the best in each. You can demonstrate by example how to explore life with zest and express the unique gifts God provides each of us. Your nurturing can blossom in emotional and spiritual growth.
Before you feel burdened with a mile-long list you can never follow through on, let me be quick to say that nurturing is not about “doing it all” or doing it perfectly. It’s about doing the best you can — without losing yourself or driving yourself crazy because your own needs aren’t taken care of. You won’t be able to nurture your children if you’re exhausted from burning the candle at both ends.
So please take care of yourself, too. You need aliveness in order to pass it on to your teenagers.
Yes, Mothers Work! Here’s Our Job Description
A lot of people don’t realize the work that goes into being a mother. Only a mother knows what a mother really does, and only a mother can tell the story. I’ve wrote this little tidbit that will hopefully give the rest of the world just a tiny bit of insight on just how hard us mothers actually work!
THE INTERVIEW
The phone rings…
MOTHER: Hello?
INTERVIEWER: Hello, Ma’am. I’m a reporter and we’re choosing women at random to give brief accounts of their job descriptions to run in next week’s issue of our career paper. Do you have a minute?
MOTHER: Not now, I’m busy!
INTERVIEWER: OK Ma’am, I won’t take anymore of your time.
MOTHER: Oh, I’m sorry, I was talking to my two-year old. She’s trying to get me to pour her some milk.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, I see. So you’re a mother?
MOTHER: I can’t just yet, I’ll do it in a minute!
INTERVIEWER: Excuse me, what was that?
MOTHER: Oh, my apologies. I was talking to my 4 year old, he needs help wiping his bottom.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, well I’ll be brief. First of all, do you work?
MOTHER: Of course I do!!
INTERVIEWER: Great! What is your occupation?
MOTHER: I’m a mother.
INTERVIEWER: Oh. But you don’t work for pay, right?
MOTHER: I have the highest paying job I know!
INTERVIEWER: But I thought you were a mother. Do you have another occupation?
MOTHER: Isn’t that enough?
INTERVIEWER: I suppose. (pause) Well, I’ll let you get back to your children, Ma’am. I have some interviews to collect.
MOTHER: Wait! Don’t you want to hear my job description?
INTERVIEWER: Uhhh…. (Thinking about a potential lawsuit if he should say no) ….. OK, go for it.
MOTHER: Could you hold on just a minute? Let me take care of my son in the bathroom. This should just take a second.
INTERVIEWER: (sighs) OK. I’ll wait.
About 5 minutes pass…
MOTHER: I’m back. Whew, that one was above and beyond the call of duty!
INTERVIEWER: I think I’ll leave that out of my article.
MOTHER: Good idea.
INTERVIEWER: Well let’s hear the job description. (He mutters under his breath), This shouldn’t take too long.
MOTHER: I hope you have lots of paper…hmmm. Well, here it goes…
I have the world’s most important job. I’m a Manager of Miracles (or MOM for short). I train people for life. I teach them morals and right from wrong. I make sure that they get the proper education that will help them to one day have the ability to rule the world if necessary. I also teach them the small things that go along with good civilization such as good hygiene and manners.
The training process takes a lot of patience and requires me to hold a number of different job titles. I’ll share just a few with you for time’s sake.
For one thing, I’m a nurse. There are times when my little “trainees” (hereafter referred to as my children or kids), will get scraped knees and little tears will stream down little faces. It is my place to put a colorful bandage on it and kiss it. This has an amazing healing effect. Usually, the child will then wipe their eyes, smile and run back and do the same thing that made them get the scraped knee in the first place. However, there are more difficult times like when my kids have the flu. It is then my place to be on call at any given moment to come and check temperatures, administer medicine, or even hold a barf bag. If I don’t get there quickly enough, it may require cleaning messes out of the carpet. I often give up my own sleep to make sure that my child is comfortable.
Also, I’m a referee. Believe it or not, there are times when my little “angels” grow horns. Fights break out between siblings and it’s my place to break up the fights and restore the peace.
Sometimes as a MOM, I must be a psychologist. I have to delve into the problems of my children and find the root causes for their behavior and help them change it.
I’m a teacher 24/7. My children are constantly learning from me whether I’m trying to teach them or not. This requires me to be very careful about everything that I do and say, for they learn the bad as well as the good.
Another one of my jobs (and one that I’m really good at) is that of an attorney. There are times when the judge, (Dad), lays down the law. Although I most definitely agree with Judge Dad that punishment must be received for wrongdoings, I look into what caused the child to behave the way they did. I’ve been known to get “sentences” reduced if the child can present good reasons for why they did what they did. (Judge Dad don’t seem to think that this is an attorney role, he thinks it’s a soft Mommy’s heart).
I’m a chauffeur, a maid, a cook, and….did you say something sir?
INTERVIEWER: ZZZZZzzzzzzzz
MOTHER: Well, I guess he got tired just listening to all I have to do. ‘click’
Let’s go get your milk now sweetie.
So, I want to take time to send out some special shout outs:
My Mom: You put up with me for my entire life. You cared for me when I was young. You stood by me during my hard times. You believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. You taught me how to love. You prayed for me. You listened when I needed someone to talk to. Most importantly, you never gave up on being my mom. I love you so much Mom.
My Step-Mother: You married my dad and made him happy over the years. You taught us values. You showed us discipline in areas we didn’t have discipline. You taught us new things that are valuable even to this day. You prayed for us. I love you and thank you for not giving up on us.
My Mother-In-Law: You raised a caring woman who I get to be married to. You continue to be around for her when she needs to lean on Mom. You allowed me to marry her and have accepted me to be part of the family. You have shown love to me even when it was hard to. You have shown love for all of our boys. You are generous. You are kind. I love you and thank you for all you do.
To The Mothers of My Boys: Thank you for raising them to be the young men they are. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for them.
My Wife: Words cannot describe how appreciative I am for you but I will try. You are patient with our boys. You have taught them to not give up. You show them new and exciting things to engage them in different challenges. You have made many delicious meals and made sure none of us went hungry. You keep our house in order even when I am away. You show unconditional love even when it can be challenging. You have encouraged us all to do better. You show love to other kids in your class and at church. I love you and Praise God that you are the mom to our boys that you are.
I thank God for each of you. I pray that He continues to bless you. I pray that He continues to shine through each of you.
Happy Mother’s Day!