Mothering...

Mothering.....

I have just finished a book about a young woman who birthed a child out of wedlock and gave him up for adoption, and then followed him from afar through his life...she was still a mother even though she did not "mother" him....

Mothers....we all have them...we may be one...we may "mother" someone else or something else...and at some point we may have the opportunity to "mother" our mothers...not sure which is harder or easier.....

We are tear wipers, we may encouragers, discouragers,  disciplinarians, free spirits....we come in all sizes, shapes, colors, every culture.....economics....

We have every emotion possible, from nonexistent to the do it all, feel it all....we cajole, we laugh, we cry, we warn....we speak softly or yell and threat....we may never lift a hand or beat...we may try to peacemaker or let them fight it out...

We hug or stand afar, we may protect, we may have broken hearts or are heroines...we may be barren and be mothers of hundreds....

I was conceived out of wedlock...my parents married soon after my conception....and then were not able to have anymore children...but they were involved in so many children's lives...my mother taught piano lessons for twenty years to many, many students as well as Sunday school students...she mothered many young women as well through time...so to many, she was a mother figure....

I left home when my mother was 37 years old for college and then married when she was 39.  She mothered me until she passed away.   I also had the opportunity to "mother" her during illnesses in her later years...so we cared for one another...in the times of need...she grandmothered her grandchildren as well...

There were, of course, mothers in the Bible...from Eve in Genesis to the end...they, too went through all the emotions of motherhood, from rejoicing to despair...they protected,
they  were humbled, they waited, they cried in desperation, they laughed, they questioned.....they watched the rise and maybe the fall of their children...they brought them to Jesus.....our most important task....

Thank You for mothers....we come in so many personalities, we are blessed beyond measure....help me to be the kind of mother I need to be to each one of my children....grandchildren...and any that you send my way....

Genesis 3:20
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Genesis.   ...Sarah, and many more...

Exodus, Moses
1 Samuel, Samuel
Ruth
Job 1
Proverbs 31
Matthew 1, Jesus