What Makes a Good Mother?

"Her children shall rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." Prov. 31:28

  I never enjoyed reading Proverbs 31 when I became a woman. I always felt that each of the items listed in the list of the virtuous woman were not achievable. It made me feel intimidated. As a young mother, I remember trying my hardest to be "super woman" and be the perfect mother. You know the kind, she cooks everything from scratch, sews all of her own clothes and her home is always spic and span. I would create happy memories for my children that they would cherish and bring to their own families.

  Unfortunately, my house never was spic and span. It would never have been on the cover of House Beautiful or Good Housekeeping; and Hamburger Helper was often the eating fare at our home. As for sewing, one year I sewed everyone shirts for a vacation that we were to take, but those clothes were not attractive at all. My mother was a better seamstress and cook than I. She is a master cook compared to me and her beautiful cakes could win awards.  And as for memories, unfortunately I believe that those are also few and far between.  

  We can all look in the Bible at who the good mothers and who the not so good mothers were. We look at Hannah who prayed for a child and then gave her only child back to the Lord to be used for His service. Because of her faithfulness, God allowed her to have more children.  Then there's Lois and Eunice, Timothy's mother and grandmother.  The Bible doesn't tell us much about them, but it does say that they were faithful. That says so much. Were these mothers perfect? I'm sure they made mistakes, yet God praised them for their contributions.  

  

  Conversely, we can look at Rebecca, Jacob and Esau's mother who showed favoritism for Jacob. We also see that she helped to perpetrate a hoax on her husband. Not a very auspicious memory of this mother whose son became the father of the nation of Israel.  I don't know about you but that humbles me.  

Let's face it, we all make mistakes. None of us is perfect. We all have bad days. God does forgive us and yet we wonder if our children forgive our errors. There are many mothers out there that have no relationships with their adult children and they feel as though the situation will never improve. Sometimes they don't, but the truth is that if we ask Him, God does. He is the great Healer. What can we do to try to heal the situation? We first ask forgiveness from God and then our children. Then, we try to move on and be the best example that we can and wait for God to repair those wounds. My challenge to all mothers today is to trust God to heal your brokenness. Trust Him to heal your relationships. As we celebrate a holiday that many card and flower companies use to make money, my prayer is that each mother realizes that she is treasured and loved by God.  Happy Mother's Day!

Copyright Kathy Eberly May 4, 2010.