Mother's Day 2010

This is my second mother's day where I wished my mother a happy day only in my heart and prayers.  Last year was brutal.  Jana had just died, and I was still reeling in grief from Mom's death 6 months earlier.  I feel so much better this year.  My, how time can change one's perspective.  How time can heal deep wounds.  I thought to myself, "this too shall pass" and it did.  The intense presence of their absence really did pass.   I still miss them, but it's a different kind of "miss" now.  Thank you, Jesus.

As I was preparing to teach Sunday school this morning, I wanted to speak something special to the ladies in my class.  Not all are mothers, so I needed a Word that could apply to all of us.  Proverbs 14:1 popped into my head.

A wise woman builds her house, 

but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

I did a word study on every single word and what I found was both surprising and encouraging.  The verse applies to every single woman; not one escapes the admonition.  "Build" is both literal and figurative.  It means repair, set up, make and build.  Similarly ,"House" is a broad word that can be applied literally and  figuratively.  It can mean a house, palace, temple, dungeon, prison, summer estate or home.  In addition, it can mean your family, your lineage.  When I combined as many of the possible variation of "builds her house" I found all sorts of hidden treasure.  Gosh, I am glad I am a woman; we get to do so many things and have so many opportunities!  When something is broken at home, whether it be a faucet or a child's arm or a teenager's heart, we have the privilege of building it back up, repairing it, mending it.   Who but a woman can do such varied tasks?  

Then I thought about our physical bodies; they are houses, aren't they?  You better believe it!  And we are wise to build them up, and fools to beat them down and pluck them apart with our own hands.

There is the next word that was interesting:  "hands."  Here we go again with a delicious word that has broad applications.  This "hand" is her power, authority, influence, means and direction.  See how these can all work together:  The wise woman encourages and builds up the people in her family, but a foolish one uses her God-given power and influence to pick them apart, piece by piece.  What a horrible picture!    Remember, this admonition applies to EVERY woman.  We all have family/houses that need building and repair.  I would guess the building process doesn't come naturally; it's the picking apart that comes so easily.  There have been times when I have nit-picked my children to absolute frustration, totally unintentionally.  They would feel like there was no way they would every be good enough for me.  I know I've done the same thing to my husband.

As I sit here at my desk (in the new chair I received as a gift today), I can think of so many scenarios that the scripture can apply to.  I'm sure you can think of some, too.

This mother's day is particularly special because I am blessed with great kids who love me despite all the mistakes I've made.  There is no greater joy in a mother's life than children that love the Lord.  I really do rejoice in the children that God gave me. There's no better gift...however, I am keeping the chair! 

Proverbs 23:25

Let your father and your mother be glad, 

and let her rejoice who gave birth to you.