As I pen these words, it鈥檚 Mother鈥檚 Day, and I鈥檓 blessed by the flowers, cards and words of my husband and our two sons. Highly respected within their respective communities, both our boys 鈥� oops, men 鈥� have contributed so much the lives of so many, including ours.
Turning again to the Book of Proverbs for inspiration, I was, at first, overwhelmed by the references to the advice, admonition and examples of fathers.聽 Reading more carefully, though, I noted a number of examples of the power of a mother鈥檚 influence as mentioned by Solomon, Agur (chapter 30) and King Lemuel (chapter 31).
Solomon opens the Book of Proverbs by immediately citing the significant impact of wise and godly parents (1:7-9): 鈥淗ow does a man become wise? The first step is to trust and reverence the Lord! Only fools refuse to be taught. Listen to your father and mother. What you learn from them will stand you in good stead; it will gain you many honors.鈥�
Then there was Agur: (30:11,12) 鈥淭here are those who curse their father and mother and feel themselves faultless, despite their many sins.鈥� Later in this chapter he details the risks and consequences of such behaviour.
King Lemuel refers the wisdom he acquired from his mother (31:1): 鈥淭hese are the wise sayings of King Lemuel of Massa, taught to him at his mother鈥檚 knee.鈥�
I miss Mom and often ponder the lessons I鈥檝e learned from her; above all, I realize that most of them were silently lived out in kindness and faith. 聽Does that mean good parents never fail? No, it certainly doesn鈥檛 for even the best among us is only human. We and our kids make mistakes because we鈥檙e all human and that鈥檚 life. Regardless of our backgrounds or of our ages, let鈥檚 ask God to help us bless others around us.
