Thoughts on being a mother...

I have been thinking this week of mothers in Scripture. Not the ones who are mentioned, but the ones behind the scenes, the ones we don’t really know anything about.  In particular, I was thinking of Daniel and the other Hebrews who were captive in Babylon. We don’t know anything about Daniel’s mother. I wonder who she was and if she was even left alive when he was taken captive. I wonder if she ever understood the big picture of why God allowed her son to be taken away from her and carried to a foreign land to be indoctrinated by an idolatrous nation, or if she became angry at God for taking him. I wonder if she thought of all the things she wished she could have told Daniel if she could have just one more day with him. Scholars suggest he was a very young teenager when he was taken, so I am sure she had not expected for her time with him to be over so early in his life.  It’s not like he was just away at college or on a trip. He wasn’t coming home, and he probably had no means of communicating with her that he was okay.  We know from Scripture that he purposed in his heart not to defile himself – and he didn’t. What kind of home did Daniel come from?  How much of Daniel’s character was shaped by his mother? From whom did he get his values?  How can I instill those same values in my children?

John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Paul reminded Timothy that his faith first dwelt in his mother and grandmother. Deep down, I hope to live long enough to watch my children grow up and serve the Lord, but I realize too that I don’t have any guarantees. God never promised that I would always have my children or that they would always have me. I have probably already had more time with my boys than Daniel’s mom had.  It is a very sobering thought – if I were to die today, what legacy of faith have I instilled in them that will carry them through life? Do they love God’s Word? Do they understand grace? Do they know the difference between religion and a relationship with Christ? Do they know that serving God with their life is more important than making money? Could they stand strong in their faith against opposition like Daniel did?

The person who did that for me in my life was not my biological mother, but a dear woman who was unable to have any children. She taught me to cook and play the piano, but more importantly, she taught me to study God’s Word and that I should “never sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the immediate.” To this day, I call her Mom, and she calls me her daughter.  Not every woman reading this has children, or perhaps your children are grown. You still have a legacy of faith that you can pass on to the next generation.  ­­­In fact, Paul told Titus that the older women in the church were to encourage the younger women and teach them how to live righteously.  This month as we focus on mothers, take pride in the fact that you have a chance to be a mother – if not biologically, then spiritually. We have a legacy of faith that is worth passing on. 

“…After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful..”  (“Find Us Faithful” by Steve Green)