Today's Devotional
May 12, 2006
Subject: The Burden Of Mothers
Proverbs 10:1 - ".... A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
Proverbs 29:15 - "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
I sat in an ARD (Admission, Review, Dismissal), a process at school where students are evaluated for their progress. The parents of my student, a young boy, were present. As the school counselor detailed my students misdeeds, ranging from drug use to skipping school, the mom wept as the father remained silent. Later, in a conversation with the mother, I realized that she was at the end of her rope and could seemingly do nothing with the wayward child. It was also clear that she received little support in disciplining from her husband.
For many reasons you frequently find that fathers can get so busy "providing" that they neglect other responsibilities to the family and mothers can feel overwhelmed. In my own personal experience as a child, I only remember that my mom did "everything." As a child I saw that both of my parents worked, but then my mom had to do the discipline, the cooking, the cleaning, the help with homework, the runs to football practice, and just about everything else and I never heard my mom complain at all about having to do it.
Much of that has changed in today's society and men seemingly are more involved in the other aspects of child-rearing. However, most women still feel that they have a multitude of responsibilities and I think it's because of what you see in Proverbs. It's probably something God has wired women to feel. Like my student at school, the mothers ultimately feel responsible when their children don't behave as they should. It's the mothers who spend most of the time with children as they grow up and it's the mothers who do the nurturing, caring and sharing with their children.
Mother's day is one of the most significant days of the year as we celebrate the contributions of moms to the family. Like probably many of your moms, my mom was the "rock" of our family and set a fine example for how mothers of today can overcome without being overwhelmed. She is a woman to be praised.
Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. Your burden is not in vain.
