“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” so said Milton Berle. I love that.
But as we all know, a mother can do ten things at once, right? She must do all and be all to her children: nurse, chauffeur, economist, counselor, laundress, chef. As the saying goes, she is chief cook and bottle washer!
But a mother has a surpassing divine mission: to be a godly influence in raising her child. Sarah Josepha Hale said, “No influence is so powerful as that of the mother.”
An unknown author wrote, “The formative period for building character for eternity is in the nursery. The mother is queen of that realm and sways a scepter more potent than that of kings or priests.”
William Ross Wallace understood a mother’s influence when he wrote The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. The third stanza of the poem goes like this…
Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
The MOM Initiative’s slogan follows right along with that: We believe that if the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, then the church that mentors those hands will win it!
A mother influences her child extensively because her heart is filled with an abundance of love. It encompasses every area of her child’s life and occurs as things like sacrificing, caring, hugging and kissing, providing, disciplining, supporting, comforting, understanding, encouraging, teaching, protecting, and enjoying.
A mother’s heart of love shows up…
*by caring about her child’s physical well-being…
~“Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.” ~Ambrose Bierce
~“One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.” ~Margaret Mead
*by encouraging her child…
~“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.” ~Marion C. Garretty
*by teaching her child right from wrong…
~“The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” ~Henry Ward Beecher
A mother’s heart of love protects her child. I don’t know who said it but it’s true: the most dangerous place to be is between a mother and her child. A mother will go to great lengths to protect her precious offspring.
You can say what you want about her but don’t you dare speak against her child or dare to do him or her any harm. You will see a perfectly sane woman morph into an erratic and hysterical fighter, exhibiting the courage of a bear and the strength of Hercules.
The greatest two things a mother can do for her child is to bring up that child in the knowledge of the Lord and to pray for that child. Abraham Lincoln said, “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
After these two things comes giving of time, time to listen, to play, to laugh, to love.
“Make a memory with your children,
spend some time to show you care;
toys and trinkets can’t replace
those precious moments that you share.”
~Elaine Hardt (http://www.EncouragingU.blogspot.com/)
A mother’s legacy is her love; it lives in her children’s hearts long after she is gone.
Dear mother, may you have a full heart to love your child well.
From one mother’s heart of love to another…
Lynn writes devotionals and inspirational stories. She has one book waiting to be published in 2015 and is working on a second one. Her greatest passion is to fulfill God’s call on her life to encourage others and glorify the Lord with her writing. She currently writes for several sites and writes bi-weekly on her site, Heading Home. http://lynnmosher.com
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