As Mother’s Day approaches, I’d like to share with you a story about a woman. Her name is Yvonne Springs. Born in Sharon, MS, great grandchild of slaves, married at 15, and first-time mother at the age of 16. She was a high school dropout because family came first.
She endured repeated domestic violence abuses, but for fear of the lives of her children, she didn’t run until they were safely tucked away. By 26, she had four children and had remarried. Despite her life’s desires, she was living for her children. Wanting to set an example for her two daughters and two sons, she would not allow other societal role models to set the paths for her children.
She repurposed her life.
Five years after her last child was born, she received her GED and scored within the top 5% of all people who had ever taken the test since it started; received straight “As” in all of her classes leading to an associate’s degree, and went on to become one of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s leading systemic investigators.
Yvonne decided to live in her own power. I was fascinated by her tenacity and encouraged by her actions for two reasons. First, I too have two daughters and was a single parent after a failed marriage. None of us want our children to view our life as a failure. You’re not a failure because you try something and it doesn’t work out. You fail only when you stop trying. Secondly, Yvonne is my mom. She died while I was going through chemotherapy and I truly believe that if I don’t give life my all, she will rise up, come find me, and knock some sense into me!
To be a mother means giving the greatest commitment and sacrifice. Mothers are the superheroes, the hospitals, the finest five-star restaurants, the nurturers, and the one that children can turn to at any given time. Mothers have the most challenging and the most rewarding job in the world. This is the ultimate full-time job. In fact, it is 24 hours a day, from the birth of the first child until the mother’s passing away.
It is true, however, that motherhood is not an overly esteemed occupation in our day and age in “Western culture”. It is looked at as something to get through, to manage, or to tolerate. But I want to challenge you to look at it differently. I want us to look at the significance of our job as mother.
Titus 2:4 says: “….so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”
From our very creation (Genesis), we were created by Him to be nurturers instinctively, by the way we were made, our bodies and our emotions.
“And the fundamental mission of motherhood is the same as it always was: to nurture, protect, and instruct children, to create a home environment that enables them to learn and grow, to help them develop a heart for God and His purposes, and to send them out into the world prepared to live both fully and meaningfully. It is up to us to embrace that mission as our own, trusting God to walk us through the details and to use our willing mother’s hands as instruments of His blessings.” -Sally Clarkson, The Mission of Motherhood
So, we as women, inasmuch as we are able, are to be focused on loving and nurturing the children God has given us. It’s how we were created and it is where we will find our greatest joy.
10 Qualities of a Good Mother
1. A mom will always be there for her children, even when they are grown.
2. A mom thinks about her children long after they have “flown the nest”.
3. A mom supports her children’s dreams, even when they seem impossible.
4. A mom loves her children in a way they will never understand until they have their own.
5. A mom will defend her children against the world.
6. A mom will take a bullet, catch a hand grenade, step in front of a train and ask God to take her instead of her child.
7. A mom will always go the extra mile when it comes to her children; cupcakes for the baseball team or helping build a birdhouse.
8. A mom will fix scraped knees, kiss away tears and try to mend broken hearts.
9. A mom will love her children even when they hurt and neglect her.
10. A mom will love her children “to the moon and back” and more. They love with an unconditional love, much like God does. We may not approve of what they do, or who they see, but our love is constant.
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
Abraham Lincoln
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