Rise Up

Mother: (noun) a female parent

We know what holiday is coming. Hallmark, with their $8.00 cards won’t let us miss it.

I was raised by an extraordinary mother. While she may not have won any awards for this feat, her sacrificial love has made her one of my biggest cheerleaders and closest friends. I know for a fact that she would do absolutely anything within her ability for me should I even ask. This came easy for her because she was raised by a sacrificially loving mother, who rose to the task of caring for anyone around her in need. I am thankful that God gave me a mother whose love I have never questioned in my 40 years on this earth.

In the Bible, Timothy had an incredible mother and grandmother. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:5 “I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.” Clearly Timothy was given a loving mother and grandmother who shaped his life and faith to the point that he became a great servant for Christ. Not only did these women have an impact on Timothy, but also on Paul.

Mother: (verb) to give rise to; to care for or protect

As a mother, I know I cannot be with my children every moment of every day. Growing up, I can think of countless women who took hold of the task to “give rise to” and “care for or protect” me. Women within my church who did not birth children of their own, but sheltered countless children under their teaching and guidance. Women who cared for the elderly widows of our church with visits and meals. Watching these ladies serve one another gave me rise to a life of serving those around me.

In college, God placed me under the loving care of a mother whose children and grandchildren were a state away, yet she tended to my soul during the confusion of my college years. When chronic pain riddled her body, she prayed for me and the other college students in our small church class. (She shared the same illness as my oldest daughter.) Many weekends were spent in her lakeside home while she and her husband lovingly cared for myself and future husband by feeding us delicious meals and playing endless games of dominoes and Phase 10. One of the favorite meals she made for us is now a favorite in my own home. My husband proposed to me while at their lake house.

As my husband and I started a family of our own, the women in our church provided guidance and support. Many were the faces my children grew up seeing each week in the nursery. My older girls still look forward to returning to the nursery, revisiting the faces and voices of the mothers who had nurtured them since birth.

Today, God continues to surround me with women who are spiritual mothers to me. Who pray for me and share godly wisdom with me. I am continuously grateful for the women around me who love my children like their own. Those who give them rise by encouraging them and caring for them in my absence. I never feel more loved than when my friends take the time to mother my own children.

God’s kindness gleams through the women in my life who have taken the time to give rise to me and my family. Their influence challenges me to RISE UP and care for others within my reach.