My wife Melissa and I have the privilege of taking care of a five month old baby girl named Wren right now. She is the daughter of a new friend of ours, a courageous and devoted young woman, who is raising two girls as a single mom. Wren's mom is here in NW Wisconsin finishing her training as a game warden for the Indian tribal nations of the Great Lakes Region. So we have her little one with us most evenings and I have to tell you she makes this grizzly old fart, smile, a lot! Her innocence, unabashed wide eyed joy and helplessness touches me deeply. As the father of five grown children, it takes me back to a time long gone and I often wonder where those days went so fast. But this story is not about me and my sappy emotions, rather it's about mom's and the sacred honor and duty of motherhood.
Seeing her on my wife's lap, getting fed or changed, played with or set down to sleep, there is a twinkle in my wife's eye and a warmth from her countenance that only comes from deep within the unspoken bonds that mother's and children have. Even though she is not our own, I can see it in my wife's face, absolute joy, unspeakable joy! I have to say I have been remiss in appreciating the special love and nurturing that God gives to women. Come to think of it, it's the same way she looks and treats our own grown kids when they are around. I guess I just took it for granted. But to see her happiness and eagerness to take care of, comfort and protect that child, reassures me that all is well with God's divine nature in a women's DNA. Us men, may be mainly the providers, protectors, disciplinarians and family stalwarts, or so we think, but we don't have the gift of making all things well in a child's world no matter what the circumstances. Women, moms to be exact , they have it, and it's priceless!
Think about all the times when your own children were growing up. It was mom with the band aids and popsicles when they fell down and were crying as if there leg had just fallen off. It was mom who picked the outfits out for Easter Sundays, first day's of school, Christmas pageants and countless other events. It was mom who sang, read and prayed with them each day and most nights while dad's were working or slumbering in their easy chair exhausted from work that day. Countless meals, meetings, sporting events, recitals, photo sessions, counseling sessions, and lectures filled almost every waking minute of the day. Mounds of laundry, toys and bikes to pick up and still most times a smile, at least in my house there was! Seriously folks, mom's are vastly underpaid and often times under appreciated. Certainly albeit without meaning to, we take them for granted. But it speaks well to the eternal reward God has for loving mothers and the crowns of righteousness they deserve to receive. In this day and age of feminine emancipation and the degradation and demeaning of stay at home moms, the honor of servitude and it's nobility is proved over and over again in countless households across the world still.
As far as I'm concerned there aren't enough flowers, Sunday brunches, gifts or platitudes we can give our wives and mother's. It simply pales in comparison to the yeoman's duty they perform. I have found that just the simple hug and thank you seem to work best for my wife. Oh don't get me wrong she appreciates gifts, flowers, and dinners out like anyone else. But a mom's real joy and happiness in life is often manifested in the lives of her children and grandchildren through the wonderful impact she had on them. So Happy Mother's Day and Happy 39th Birthday to my wife and all the mom's out there! We men won't admit it often enough but you are the greatest gift God gives us in this world outside of our Lord Jesus Christ! Thank You!
Proverbs 31:26-31
"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is
on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does
not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her: Many woman do noble things, but
you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive , and beauty is fleeting; but a
woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has
earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. *
