We have lots of text threads in our family. . .one for all seven us, one for the people who are living at home at the time, one for me and the girls, one for me and boys (the boyzzzz), and my personal favorite, the one with all the kids and me. You might ask, why is there a thread without dear old dad in it? Well, that's because dear old dad gets a lil weary of the constant bantering when someone gets on a kick, causing his phone to blow up. On the contrary, mom loves it and reads them all. This text thread gets renamed all the livelong day. It started ages ago as "Mom loves her kids" or something like that, and has devolved more times than I can count, usually involved some slam against one of us ("Mom is tolerable", "Mom is mediocre", usually in response to me naming "Mom is the best" or the like). But my favorite name for the thread is what I continually rename it - "Her children will rise up and call her blessed". And time and again it is changed to something else, like "projectile vomit".
So.
Obviously no one around here is rising up and calling me anything, unless it's Big Mamma or something equally flattering.
Recently I saw a Mother's Day card that depicted a modern day Proverbs 31 woman, and it made me smile and ponder what makes a godly woman in today's world. Here are a few of my thoughts:
- She gets up early to switch the laundry, empty the dishwasher and start breakfast. She lovingly wakes the kids up for school and assists with lunch-making, uniform-finding and field-trip-form-signing. She prays with her family before sending them off with a kiss.
- She goes to the grocery, the pharmacy, the library, the bank. She takes one child to the dentist and another to the doctor's office. She ferries back and forth between school pick ups, sports practices, music lessons and her kids' games. She puts more miles on the car than accumulate during a long trip.
- She disciplines her children with love and patience, slow to anger and quick to give grace. She listens to them while they explain their point of view, champions them when needed and guides them to apologize when they're at fault. She reminds them again and again to take their troubles to God in prayer.
- She makes all the appointments, signs all the forms and fills out all the paperwork. She helps with homework and job applications and listens patiently to presentations until they're just right.
- She gets up in the middle of the night to soothe away a bad dream, nurse and cuddle a precious baby, and administer nighttime meds. She snuggles "just a few more minutes" in a stuffed-animal-crammed bed instead of beneath her own cool sheets.
- She cooks meals for her family, sometimes elaborate, sometimes quick, but keeping them as healthy as possible. She offers snacks when needed and directs the meal time conversations to best hear how her family is doing.
- She takes her children to church every week, instilling in them a love and reverence for their Savior. She reads the bible and prays with her children at home, answering their faith questions as best she can.
- She loves her husband and respects him, lifting him up to others. Her husband cherishes her and their children and the home she so lovingly curates. Together, they work to raise their children to know their Savior.
