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Some of my most pleasurable memories I have, are from the days our children were still living at home. The laughter that echoed from their bedrooms brought chuckles to me as I cooked their favorite foods, or stood at the sink washing dishes.

I can remember the minor emergencies, such as the day my daughter’s horse decided he was going to pitch her off. He pitched her like a softball and then ran through a fence. She picked herself up off the ground, dusted off the dirt and looked around to be sure no one saw her. Satisfied that only her mom saw the incident, she took off after the horse.

Then there was the summer my son was covered in poison ivy, bitten by a dog, and suffered a snake bite…..and if that wasn’t enough, my husband decided to play circus with him, lifting him high in the air, he hit a light fixture, cutting a chunk out of the thigh of his leg. That’s when I knew God had major plans for our Son! (That's another story.)

I remember the whispers when all three kids planned a special Christmas present. But the best gifts I received were the love they lavished on me, and the daily ‘little things’ such as a hand-picked bouquet of flowers. So what if they came from my flower beds.

There’s a huge responsibility in being a parent, especially for a mother. We spend so many hours with our children from the day they are born, until we send them off to school and then on to college.

I’ve heard it said, “Anyone can be a mother, but not everyone can be a mom.” It’s an honor to be a mom. God gave children to us to nurture, love and teach principles that would go with them the rest of their lives. We work along with our spouse, to keep a balance of discipline and mercy.

There were many women recognized in the Bible, but the one I love to read is the story of the Shu-nam-mite woman who desired a child. She and her husband built a guest room for a traveling Prophet, that he might stay over and rest as he passed by. II Kings 4: 10-44. The story goes on to tell of the prophecy given to her in which she was to give birth to a child. She did conceive, only to have the child die from an illness.

But, this story had a happy ending. Even though the child was dead, she went after the Prophet to have him come pray for her child. When he asked her if all was well, she replied,"All is well." Please get this moms....the child was DEAD, yet she still confessed by faith, that all was well. The prophet did come and pray and the child lived.

What a wonderful parallel, though we are dead, yet we live if we are in Christ.

What does this story have to do with being a godly mother? She had a determination to believe and trust God, even when outward appearances said there was no hope, the child was dead. That’s the kind of mother I want to be…one that never gives up on my children; and believing that God has a plan for their lives; and if he has a plan, then he will be faithful and just to see it through.

Happy Mother’s Day Moms!

Copyright 2003 by Marie Williams