The other day, the kids and I were in town and a lovely young lady commented on the straw hat that I was wearing. She told me that she would LOVE to wear straw hats, she had always wanted one, but she would looks silly in one - if only she could wear a straw hat. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. You would have had to see this girl to truly understand, but I will explain to the best of my ability. She was young, cute, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes and multiple pieces of "body art". The most noticeable was a dangling flap of skin on her earlobe where a HUGE button type earring used to be. There was nothing in the hole now, so it was just a big empty nothing. Nothing, that is, but a huge flap of dangling earlobe. She had a number of hoops and studs inserted in numerous places in her otherwise pretty face. And she thought that a straw hat would make her look goofy! All I could think was, where is her mother? Who taught her what beauty was and how to best accentuate her best features.
I see a lack of mothers everywhere. In the grocery store clerk that won't look up from their texting long enough to help a customer. In the guy checker boarding traffic because he has to be in the front of the pack In the gang of teenagers with music blasting so loudly from their car that it rumbles windows a block away. In the President of the United State in his arrogance and prideful, childish temper tantrums.
When I was growing up, my mother was a walking Book of Proverbs. She had an answer for any situation that would come up. "Mom - she doesn't like me and makes fun of me!", "well, tell her you don't know why she doesn't like you, because you sure like her". "Mom, she said mean things to me so I told her where to get off", "you know better than that - you are not responsible for what she said, but you are responsible for how you behave". "Mom, he made me so mad that I told everyone he can't swim", "Never return evil for evil, instead, be kind and heap burning coals upon his forehead". See - she was a walking Book of Proverbs. I now know that I was blessed beyond measure to have her for a mother. She didn't let me take the easy way out, she didn't let me shirk my responsibility - she told me how to live then she showed me how to live.
In the Book of Ruth, Naomi instructed Ruth how to go about a courtship with Boaz. She detailed how Ruth was to prepare herself and how she was to approach Boaz. Just think how our young ladies would benefit in their relationships if their mothers were involved in teaching them appropriate behaviour and decorum when dealing with opposite sex. We would have by far fewer teen pregnancies, venereal diseases and broken homes.
The entire chapter of Titus 2 is and admonition for older women (mothers) to teach younger women (daughters) to be sober, love their husbands, love their children, be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good and obedient to their own husbands. Older women are to be teachers of good things. They encourage young men to be sober minded, do good works and have sound speech. When was the last time you met a young man with sound speech? Where are the mothers? We need to be home teaching our children! The entire society depends on us. We are the ones that teach our children how to dress, how to deal with one another, how to manage relationships, how to be good employees and good employers. We teach our children how to be good wives, good mothers, good people.
The most powerful way that I can effect my world is by being a mother. A mother who is engaged with her children. A mother who teaches and admonishes her children. A mother who loves her children.
I want to be a walking Book of Proverbs.
You already are!
ReplyDeleteP.S- was having alittle insomnia, and tossing and turning tonight, but stopping in to visit your blog I have alittle more peace in my heart! I too share the hope that one day I will be a walking Book of Proverbs as you are to your family.
Good Night and God Bless, Clare
i grew up in a world where families stayed close..if not under the same roof or next door then just down the road. then it seemed that everyone was moving further and further away...today more people are having to move back home and live with grandpa or mama and papa and they are finding that this is not easy at all because they have become so estranged from what being a family unit is all about.
ReplyDeleteEnola Gay, you are a walking Book of Proverbs. Your chilcren will be assets to their own families and their communities and country. And their faith will guide them when you aren't nearby.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is because I am not a parent that I can objectively discern good parents from poor ones. Good parents balance love with discipline. Bad parents alternate between indulgence and indifference.
Mothers are the backbone of any society. When mothers are respected and admired, a society will prosper in many ways. When motherhood is belittled or taken for granted, society as a whole is lesser for it. Isn't it obvious which direction our own society is heading?
That's not to say fathers are less important - but their role in parenting is far different.
NoCal Gal
Just like everything else in modern America, it is the government's job to raise the children. In the summer, when the kids are out of school, how many times have I heard a mother say "I'll be so glad when school starts again, and gets these kids out of my hair!" I've always been appalled. If they didn't want kids, why did they have them? Why can one teacher deal with 20-30 kids every day and she can't deal with 2 or 3?
ReplyDeleteI've also frequently heard "Why don't they teach them that in school?" Again I'm appalled. I ask them "Why don't YOU teach them that? The schools are supposed to teach them everything from manners to morals these days, and the kids learn NO loyalty to family God.
Barb