A Mother’s Love

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: ‘There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!’‭‭”

Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭25-29 ‭NLT‬‬

A Mother’s love is hard to explain because it is made up of so many things, kindness, strength, wisdom, sacrifice, laughter, obedience, trust, prayer, and faith. I never realized how much you could love another person or worry about another person as much as you do when you are a parent. 

The Bible is full of examples of wonderful Mothers. Sarah was the mother to Isaac at 90 years old.  She had prayed for literally decades for a child. (Genesis 21:1-3, 6-7). Her faith and prayers were answered.

In Exodus, we meet Moses’ mom, Jochebed, who was so concerned for him, that she placed him in a papyrus reed basket that she waterproofed with tar and pitch and put him in the river so he wouldn’t be killed. (Exodus 2:1-4). Her strength and sacrifice protected a baby who would grow into the man that led the Israelites out of slavery. 

Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, followed God and was rewarded with a child in her old age. (Luke 1:39-45).  Her obedience, trust, prayers, and faith brought forth the one who prepared the way for Jesus.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was an ordinary girl who was chosen to do an extraordinary thing, bringing Jesus into the world. She had to trust God, pondering things in her heart. (Luke 1:35-38). Her obedience to God, her faith, sacrifice, and prayers made her the mother of the Savior.

Then we have Ruth, who left her homeland and her gods, to move to a new land with her mother-in-law.  Ruth cared for Naomi and was blessed with being part of the lineage of Jesus. (Ruth 1-4) Her obedience, loyalty, and sacrifice were displayed throughout the book of Ruth. 

Hannah prayed earnestly for Samuel, giving him back to God as she promised she would. (1 Samuel 1:10-11, 27-28). Timothy came to know the Lord, from his grandmother, Lois, and his mother Eunice. (2 Timothy 1:5).  All three mothers had strong faith and prayer lives that were shown through their obedience to God.

We see these attributes in the ladies of the Bible as well as the ladies in our own lives.  I see these attributes in my Mom. God blessed me with an incredible mom, a woman who has shown me the true example of a Proverbs 31 woman.

I want to say thank you, Mom. Thank you doesn’t feel like enough for all you’ve done and all you do for me and our family. But thank you for everything, every late night, every sacrifice you and Dad made over the years, every game you cheered me on, every walk, and every text we exchange. You taught me things from basic life skills to how to redesign a wedding dress. I would never have been able to see that or do that without you.  You can paint the picture when I can’t see past what’s in front of me. 

You are my daily sounding board, one of the people I turn to when I have a problem or situation. You are my traveling companion, my adventure-goer, and my friend. Your love for our family has been an example to all of us of how to love others. You’ve shown us how to welcome friends into our family, treating them just like they’ve always belonged here. You’ve loved your in-loves as if they were your own flesh and blood. You’ve dried our tears and held back our hair, and braided it too. You held my hand and just sat with me when we didn’t know the words to say. You’ve shown us love and loved us even when we were unloveable. We don’t always see eye to eye but you gracefully give me wisdom and perspective. You are strong and wise, and kind.  You work hard for your family and always have. You are so many things, and I am grateful for you.

You haven’t gotten a medal for all your hard work and at times you probably didn’t get a thank you (hello, teenage years), but you deserve both today and every day.

I hope that I am leaving a legacy of the Proverbs 31 woman with all those that I meet.  How will you thank the beautiful, strong mothers in your life today? 

Lord, thank You, for all the mothers.  Thank You for these women and the sacrifices they’ve made for their families.  Lord may You, bless them today and always. Thank you, Lord.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Share with me about the special women in your life in the comments.