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PERFECT MOTHER
“…Her worth is
far above rubies…Her children rise up and call her blessed…”
(Proverbs 31)
For the first
couple of years of our lives, we did have a perfect
mother. Then the terrible two’s came along and she seemed to
disagree with everything we wanted to do. When we yelled “mine!”
she didn’t seem to understand what that meant and would
sometimes
take what was “mine” away. Well now the war was on, and from
then on we were at odds with that one-year-old’s perfect
mother.
I wonder how
many times our now-imperfect mother wanted to
unscrew the top of our heads and pull out some nonsense and
replace it with some good sense, screw the top back on and
breath a sigh of great relief.
It’s the time
of year to remember and appreciate how really perfect our
mothers became as we grew older and became mothers ourselves,
reliving the frustrations that we caused them. Dues-paying
time!
I shudder to
think about the dire consequences if my mother had
been as perfect as I wanted her to be while I was growing up.
You know, giving me everything I wanted, never withholding
privileges that I thought I just had to have or I would die.
It wouldn’t have taken long for her to take a good look at me
and send me to another cabbage patch! And what I would
have missed by not being her daughter!
There are
people who have spent their entire adult life living
in reverse, bemoaning the fact that they didn’t have a perfect
mother
and so missed out on the wonderful memories that could have
been theirs, all because she didn’t measure up to their
standard
of perfection. How sad! Even tragic, since it affects every other
relationship that they have.
Isn’t it
amazing that imperfect offspring can expect perfection of
their parents and the mother who gave them an incubating place
for nine
months and birthed them. What in the world would a perfect
mother do with imperfect children?
This is where
the truly “perfect” mother shines. She loves her little
imperfect children with a perfect unconditional love. She
endures the midnight raids to the refrigerator for a milk
bottle or nourishment from
her own body and as often as the inconsiderate squalling
infant wants it.
Wet and
“worse” diapers demand to be changed, only to be wet
and worse again and again and again.
Marathon
nights of colic bouts give Mother a good workout pacing back
and forth losing sleep. It doesn’t matter that she has to
arise early to help dad and/or the older kids off to work and
school.
Wiping little
runny noses and fevered brows, bathing too-warm
bodies in tepid water trying to lower the elevated temperature
and worrying about why it is up. More sleep loss.
Time moves on
as she runs at breakneck speed trying to keep up
with the always restless legs that “must” go here and there
and
need last minute cookies, homework help and transportation to
places near and far.
More sleepless
night as the clock ticks away and their beds are
still empty. What if they are hurt or in trouble? What if
….??
How would she
be able to afford to pay college tuition when
dad just got down-sized and the bills were already piling up?
Weddings are
expensive and may have to be done on a small scale
unless things improve. And their choice for a mate! Awk!
But
what you see next is another dose of her perfect unconditional
love and acceptance. If you love ‘em, she loves ‘em.
Mother serves
and waits until her family has had its full before she
takes her place at the table when the pantry is a little
bare. Well,
she needs to lose weight anyway, or so she says. New Easter
dress?
Out of the question. Kids come first. New shoes? Oh no,
kids
need school clothes and shoes, band uniforms and sports
clothes.
Does any
of this sound familiar? If so, you had a perfect mother!
I hope you realized it while you still had her around to tell
her so.
If she is still with you, run to her and tell her how perfect
she is.
Her hugs are just the right size for you. After all, God knew
exactly
who you needed for a mother. Are you going to accuse God of
error?
Of course not; He doesn’t make mistakes. We just don’t always have
clear vision of what He is doing. Sometimes we can “see” before
it’s too late; some times we can’t. But Mother understands!
That’s another evidence of her perfection.
God doesn’t
have any perfect children, including Mothers. But,
oh, He made mothers with such incredibly great hearts that
could
love imperfect children with perfect, unconditional God-like
love.
Love that doesn’t stop when we’re bad or when we’re rebellious.
Yes, we broke her heart many times, but the crack never was large
enough for love to leak out. It was so thick it stayed in place while
the brokenness healed. There is not a love like a Mother’s
this side
of God’s love which is the source of unconditional love. No
wonder
it’s perfect!
I wouldn’t
have traded my Mother for any I have ever known!
What unselfish love she showered on all her family—anyhow!!
She had a big barrel of excuses, and she could pull out one
for
every dumb thing we did. Mostly, she would blame herself if
we failed.
Of course that gave us two choices: blame her or
ourselves. I have
to say unequivocally the fault was mine! What a bundle of bad
decisions and dumb things I did that she tried to take the
blame for!
She strives
for excellence for her family. Wow!
How perfect can a Mother be!
“Who can find
a virtuous woman?” (Proverbs 31:10). The search
goes on, and I know where one lived! Look and see if you
can’t locate your Mother too.
More about
Mothers--Click Below
A Test of Love
Delores Adams
4/29/04
Copyrighted. All rights reserved.
Look here for
Writings from Mother’s Heart
Alice's Legacy
Remembering Alice
~The
Ten Commandments~
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