For the year 2020, Mother's Day will be May 10. I wanted to share an article by Nicole Johnson that I believe mirrors what the Bible teaches about a godly mother. It is entitled:
🔹Invisible Mother🔹
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof. No one will ever see it', and the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.
Original author: Nicole Johnson
10 An excellent wife, who
can find?
For her worth is far above
jewels.
11 The heart of her husband
trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in
delight.
14 She is like merchant
ships;
She brings her food from afar.
15 She rises also while it
is still night
And gives food to her household
And portions to her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys
it;
From her earnings she plants a
vineyard.
17 She girds herself
with strength
And makes her arms strong.
18 She senses that her gain is
good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She stretches out her hands to
the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to
the poor,
And she stretches out her hands to the
needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow
for her household,
For all her household are clothed
with scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for
herself;
Her clothing is fine linen
and purple.
23 Her husband is known in
the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the
land.
24 She makes linen garments
and sells them,
And supplies belts to
the tradesmen.
25 Strength and dignity are
her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
26 She opens her mouth in
wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is
on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of
her household,
And does not eat the bread of
idleness.
28 Her children rise up and bless
her;
Her husband also, and he praises
her, saying:
29 “Many daughters have done
nobly,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty
is vain,
But a woman who fears
the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her the product of
her hands,
And let her works praise her in the
gates.
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