A true mother thinks day and night about the well-being of her children. She is the first to praise them and to comfort them, and also the first to protect them when she senses that they may be in danger. It is she who has carried them and borne the pains of pregnancy and childbirth, and it is she who now continues to carry them in her heart. Her intuition is often clearer than her husband’s, and she will not let him make light of her concerns or reassure her too easily. She will also be the first to turn to God on a child’s behalf. Perhaps that is what inspired the old Jewish saying, “God could not be everywhere at once, so he gave each child a mother.”

When a child cries at night, it is usually the mother who will be at his or her bedside first. She feels her child’s pain, instinctively, and she will bear it not only as a burden, but also as a privilege and a joy.

A mother’s sensitivity and love is boundless. She will continue to keep her children on her heart long after others have given up on them. Like St. Augustine’s mother Monica, who refused to disown him during his years of youthful rebellion, she will continue to have hope for a prodigal son (or daughter) even when everyone else has condemned him. Moreover, she will believe for him when he has ceased to believe.

I cannot thank God enough for the love of my mother and for her deep relationship with my father. Even though they were sparing in their use of religious language (they never talked about their piety), it was obvious to us seven children that they loved God, one another, and each of us. And while it was clear that our father was head of the family, he never tolerated the slightest disrespect from us towards our mother.

Many women in our time rebel against motherhood. They forget that it is not only a God-given task, but a God-given privilege as well. Motherhood was once regarded as the noblest calling of a woman; nowadays, it is pushed aside by more “desirable” careers and seen as an inconvenience or even an embarrassment. It is true that many women rebel because of the oppression and lovelessness of the men around them, but in the end their resentment, understandable as it may be, achieves little. How different family life could be if we admitted to our confusion about the role of man and of woman; if we sought to rediscover God’s plan for both, and regarded one another with respect and love!

In our community, mothers participate in the daily work as fully as possible—as cooks and nurses, doctors and seamstresses, accountants, teachers, graphic designers, and secretaries. Yet when pregnancy requires it, their first priority is always motherhood. Far from regretting or resenting it, they feel, as all of us do, that it is a gift; that in God’s eyes, there is no sacrifice more worthy than that made for the sake of a child.

Excerpts from A Little Child Shall Lead Them, available as a FREE e-book.

 

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Your Turn. Tell us what you thought about this article:

Responses

Motherhood, writen beautiful,&touching. Enjoyed it very much.

Earlene McCluskie from Illinois

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Beautiful sentiment. So true. There is no love greater then that of a Mothers. God has given the most precious gift. You do feel your childrens pain and disappointments, as well as their successes and happiness. This goes on even after they leave the nest. As long as a Mother has breath in her, she will never cease worrying, caring, or loving her child(ren)no matter how old they become. I just witnessed my daughter-in-law giving up a career for which her salary was quite a substantial one per year -- to stay home with her newborn child, who is now 4 months old. That's saying a lot to me in that what she holds dear are family and the most precious gifts of God -- a non-materialist.

Mary Ann from Delaware

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I really have always liked that Jewish saying, "God could not be everywhere at once, so he gave each child a mother." I am presently on the home front raising and educating our sons, but do have friends who have no choice other than to find childcare and other means of support so that they can return to work and help with the family income.  These women are every bit the mothers as those of us at home.  None of us "at home" are immune to the reality of possibly needing to return to the workforce at any given moment.  Each mother's situation is very unique.  There can be so much harsh and smug judgment towards women who choose to work outside the home and that is quite unfortunate.  In different cultures around the world, it is inherently natural for women to recognize that the women themselves also need nurturing after birth.  Mothers, young and old, lovingly support their fellow mothers.  The United States has yet to reach that reality.  I'd be very interested in hea  ring motherhood stories from the mothers in your community and how post-partum depression, a very common experience after pregnancy, affects women in your community and how it is managed.  In the world outside of your communities, postpartum depression is a relatively common and natural occurrence--a part of growing into the role of motherhood.  Realistically, many women do have regrets and resentments while also deeply loving their children and husbands.  If the women in your communities are free from this, I'm sure many of your female readers would love to hear their secrets! 

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This is the first of your articles I have read having just opened up the website...of course I was drawn to the one on motherhood being a homemaker and mother of two boys ages three and one. This article was a quite a blessing!

Andrea J. Abernatha
Johnson City, NY