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Had I
Been Joseph’s Mother
Had I been Joseph’s mother
I’d have prayed protection from his brothers
“God, keep him safe.
He is so young, so different from the others.”
Mercifully,
she never knew there would be slavery and prison, too.
Had I been Moses’ mother
I’d have wept to keep my little son:
praying she might forget
the babe drawn from the water of the Nile.
Had I not kept him for her nursing him the while,
was he not mine?
—and she but Pharaoh’s daughter?
Had I been Daniel’s mother
I should have pled “Give victory!
—this Babylonian horde godless and cruel—
Don’t let him be a captive—better dead,
Almighty Lord!”
Had I been Mary,
Oh, had I been she,
I would have cried as never mother cried,
“Anything, O God, Anything…
—but crucified.”
With such prayers importunate
my finite wisdom would assail
Infinite Wisdom.
God, how fortunate
Infinite Wisdom should prevail.
Ruth Bell Graham
Common Challenges
of Mothers
1) Low self-esteem,
2) Monotony and loneliness,
3) Stress from too many demands
4) Lack of time with husband,
5) Confusion about discipline,
6) Home atmosphere,
7) Need for outside role models,
8) Training of children.
And Then
I Had Children, Susan A. Yates
“No man is
poor who has had a godly mother.”
Abraham
Lincoln
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Grandma
Grandma, on a winter’s day, milked
the cows and fed them hay, hitched the mule, drove kids
to school...did a washing, mopped the floors, washed the
windows and did some chores...Cooked a dish of home-dried
fruit, pressed her husband’s Sunday suit...swept the
parlor, made the bed, baked a dozen loaves of bread...split
some firewood and lugged it in, enough to fill the kitchen
bin...Cleaned the lamps and put in oil, stewed some apples
before they spoiled...churned the butter, baked a cake,
then exclaimed, “For goodness sake!” when the
calves ran from the pen, and chased them all back in again...Gathered
eggs and locked the stable, back to the house and set the
table...cooked a supper that was delicious, then washed
and dried all dirty dishes...fed the cat and sprinkled clothes,
mended a basketful of hose...then opened the organ and began
to play: “When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day...”
Reminisce, 1991
The Blessings of
a Mother
1) Dedication (1Sa. 1:11)
2) Protection (Ex. 2:3)
3) Training (2Ti. 1:5)
4) Prayers (Gen. 21:16-8)
5) Love (1Ki. 3:26)
6) Triumph (Mat. 15:25-8)
The mother of three
notoriously unruly youngsters was asked whether or not she’d
have children if she had it to do over again. “Yes,”
she replied. “But not the same ones.”
Reader’s
Digest, David Finkelstein
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