She is the wife of noble character who can find she's worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life. She looks for wool and flax and works with hands in delight.
She's like the merchant ships bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night. She provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it out of her earnings. She plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously.
Her arms are strong for her. She sees that her trading is profitable and her lamp does not go out at night. She stretches out her hand she holds the Distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hand to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household. For all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes covering for her bed. She's clothed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them and supplies belts to the tradesmen. She is clothed with strength and dignity. She can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with kindness instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also praises her saying, many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. For all that her hands have done and let her works, bring her praise at the city gate.
So we see a story here and a description of a wife, a mother, and you can tell from the description attributes given there is strength and dignity. And it's okay. She's got her own money, Nowhere in there Did it say she had to ask her husband for any cash? No, she had her own and if she saw a property that she wanted, she buy it and plant her own vineyard because she has the Lord. .
Can women work outside the house, according to this, they can. And there's nothing wrong with it. In fact, she is to be praised by her children and husband for all of her work. She's not idle.
If I would have read that at a young age, then I would've known what I was to look for in a spouse.
Now fast forward to modern times, mothers seem to be superhuman. I mean, you think back to all the things your mother did for you when you're a kid and it's like, how did she get all that done? How did she do all that? My mother would cook, clean and believe me, there's a lot of cleaning to do with five kids in the house. And then she worked outside of the house.
It's a lot to be a mother, let alone work on top of that and go back to college. They're like super human sometimes when you think back and all mothers seem to speak the same language, even if they don't know each other. I remember I was at my friend's house one day. I think I was like, I don't know, 13, 14 years. his mother was yelling at him about something. And I could have swore I was hearing my own mother. Yeah. They never met,
They're yelling stuff, Like don't be smart with me.
Or how about this one, keep crying? I'll give you something to cry about. Hey, your mom knows that one too. Wow. The one I heard all the time was, where's my change?, that I was going to get to keep it. We can't forget this one, this is the last time I'm going to tell you,
They don't just speak the same language, but they share many of the same quality. Yes, these qualities, God has placed within them that sometimes don't bloom until they actually have a child with the qualities that only they possess. Now, guys can try and imitate those qualities. Those aren't the qualities that God has given us. And it would just be an imitation.
Of the qualities that most mothers possess, tenderness, compassion, mother's intuition, Sympathy and empathy is the most important. Sympathy from a mother is different than from a father, because I think women have this gift of empathy to go with it. Out of the 69 Kings of France, only three were really loved by their subjects. And out of these three, they were the only ones raised by their mothers. Instead of the rest were raised by guardians.
The three that were raised by their mothers had empathy. The development of great qualities and character are taught from a nurturing upbringing, Not by books, not formal education, but through the love and compassion of a mother. This is one of the reasons why our society is suffering.
So many children are being raised by the streets or by their friends or by other parents, parents, friends, and families.
Napoleon said the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. In other words, whoever is bringing up the next generation is in control of how that generation is going to lead. And this is why it's so important for us to raise our children in the way they should go.
They may veer and stray, but eventually come back to the way they should go. If you have s3everal children, you can raise them all the exact same way and every single one of them will be, because they're all individuals and they're all different.
You forget that. You think I'll just do the same thing and they'll all come out the same, of course, that might not be a good thing.
So, let's imagine you're looking for a perfect mother, that you were going to leave your one and only child with who would she be? Something you think about when making your will. I mean, that's a tough question.. Some parents have trouble even thinking of who to leave the kids with babysitters. In fact, we were pretty happy when our kids were old enough to babysit the younger ones, because then we didn't have to worry about who we're leaving them with,
To pick someone to raise your one and only child. What would you look for? Would they be wealthy? Would they live in a nice place? Would they be famous? Well, educated, mature, experienced, what would be their characteristics?
I have witnessed the value of a mother many times in my life. Sometimes personally, sometimes some of the things that I've had to go through. Single parents, raising children, doing their best to act as both parents. However, there are things a father can never accomplish, which I learned firsthand.
I'm trying to raise my daughter by myself. When her mother left, there are things that God has created in a woman, especially. And that role of mother was created by God to be filled by a woman. And although I did my best, I was still no substitute try as I did. I could never completely fulfill that role because I wasn't created to, it was not within the realm of my abilities.
Men for the most part, lack some of the essentials that God has created in women to fill that role.
I mean, this is just a fact for example a little boy jumps on his bike, looking down the trail at a huge ramp, he just built to jump over a thorn bush. He starts pedaling and going full speed.
And then right when he hits the ramp, he crashes, his mother sees the crash, and is now going to run down there to see if little Johnny is all right and dad says come on and get up you'll be fine. So, I mean, that's just the way we are for some reason us dads think that that's how you toughen your boy. Inside however we might be thinking, oh man, I hope he's all right. Instead we have a talk with little Johnny, What were you thinking? You can't put a board on top of a brick and make a ramp out of it. Let me show you how to do it. Right. And then we can go down there and build them a ramp and the mother would be like, no way you're going down that ramp, there's been one injury today and that's enough.
We are different. We were created different for different reasons. We have different roles and, and, and I'm not diminishing the purpose of a father and what God has given him for the children. I'm just saying it's different. When my mother tried being the mom and the dad just didn't work.
No12 year old boy wants to take his mother to father and son boy scout day. I didn't know of course in a few more years, that'll probably be standard, but the way it's going now, but, I know then I didn't want to take my mother to the father and son boy scout day, especially back in the seventies,
Today. It's like no big deal. I remember when I was in kindergarten and there's this big rumor going around school that so-and-so's parents were divorced. I thought, oh my gosh, really? They're not together anymore/ They're divorced. Now you get the same reaction. If you find out someone's parents are still married,.
We have our places and we have our gifts and we have our purposes and, and, we can see through recorded history and even in, our own lives and the lives of our friends and families.
How important a role a mother has in the upbringing of the children?
God was looking for someone to raise his one and only son. He chose a town with a bad reputation. I mean, he could have chose any town in the world. I love the verse where it says can anything good come out of Nazareth? Well, now we know. Yeah, some good can, but it was a town with a bad reputation.
God went to a humble cottage and tapped a young girl on the shoulder and chose her to be the mother of Jesus. Not because she was rich. Not because she was famous, Not because she was educated, mature, experienced. He chose her because of her heart and her unfailing obedience to him, her willingness to serve him and his.
Gabriel told Mary that she was highly favored by God. Now there is a crown. If the Lord was to send an angel and just sit and talk about me, I'd probably pass out. I don't think I could handle it.
What was it about Mary that caught God's attention? We don't know told specifically, but we can get from the scriptures that the answer, which is hidden in a few accounts of Mary recorded by the inspired writers of scripture. And I believe that God chose Mary for two reasons first because of what Mary already had. Mary had the right perspective. She had to be scared thinking of taking all this on in the situation that she was in, she faced rejection from Joseph. She didn't know if Joseph was going to accept all this, They were engaged to be married and everything. I mean, for all she knew he was going to reject her and leave her. And then what state would she be in? Because you know how tough it was for women. It was very hostile in that culture. Jeopardizing, her reputation, her life could actually be in danger if she was, accused of unfaithfulness. And I'm sure she probably felt a little insecure and unworthy.
But she didn't hesitate because she had the right perspective. And when God asked her to do something, she said, you're will be done.
And I think we've all been there. I mean, Mary could have said I'm just a young girl. I don't know nothing. I think you picked the wrong person, but here's the thing about God, he knew that.
And if he picks you for something, he knows what he's doing. We may not know what he's doing or understand what he's doing, but he does.
So we need the right perspective. Mary said, I am the Lord's servant. May it be, as you have said, Mary saw motherhood as an honor and a gift
You know, one thing that I've learned over the years is that a little child looks to their mother and their father for answers and guidence. That is their picture of God and, and whatever kind of relationship that a mother and father has with their child. It tells a story. And that story teaches that child of what our relationship with their father in heaven is going to be like when they become an adult.
If that story isn't told properly, like in my case, you grow up with a bad attitude, dislike authority, don't like rules. Don't like being told what to do. I don't like bosses teachers, law enforcement, any other position of authority I can think of, hate them all. Cause you can't trust them. They're liars. And they're only out to get you and hurt you. You see the story. We tell our children in the way that we raised them is the story of how God is going to love them. When they're adults.
I wish I would've known that many years ago would have done things a little different, but I think we can all look back and say, I could've should've would've, but that's not what's important. What's important is what we do from today on mothers today. Like Mary needed to have the proper perspective. In raising God's children, each life is knit in the womb by the hand of the almighty and mothers all share in this responsibility to raise the children, given to them by God Psalm 127, verse three say's behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, is like a reward. Today. we honor our mothers and their important role in raising children. But the role doesn't just stop there. There's grandchildren, there's children in the church. Children don't necessarily have to be your biological children. There's plenty of children that need instruction and upbringing and reassurance and teaching that lines up with what their mothers at home are teaching.
And that's where the church family comes in. When we dedicate our children to the Lord the church agrees to work together with you to help bring up that child and the way he should go into and to help support, the parents as they raise that child.
We need to have God's word hidden in our hearts and minds so that it supports and guides us in our life and in your life of motherhood to put that truth in you, to continuously read and pray and keep in communion with the Lord so that your path will be directed by him. And you'll have the right perspective and the right attitude and raising the children.