PREVAILING MOTHER The

If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother ~ Booker T. Washington (1856–1915)

It often happens that we cannot over-emphasize the good that our mothers have done for us. Worldwide, Mother's Day is a celebrated occasion. On that day, we seek to put aside all the heartbreak and pain we have encountered on our earthly journey, focusing on the gift of our mothers' love. Motherhood is like a flavor – a flavor that carries both the bitter and the sweet of life. Mothers rejoice in our triumphs and grieve in our suffering. They work, serve and sacrifice, so that we can live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.

Being a Christian mother is very different from simply being a mother. As Christian mothers, we strive to uphold the Biblical mandates entrusted to us. In the Biblical worldview, the mission of parents is to raise children to follow God. To that end, God designed the family as the primary unit in which children are cared for, loved, trained and empowered. This requires patience, kindness and discipline. Being a Christian mother encompasses a great degree of tension. She must be kind, without forsaking Biblical expectations, and she must know when to let go of the children she has nurtured

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver us from them all. For many years, my only child was healthy and active. She played sports and represented her school in competitions and at sports events. While participating in her last competition, she suffered a minor heart attack. The doctor said she had a hole in her heart that will close overtime. She became greatly distressed by the different issues arising from her condition and, understandably, her complaints increased I continued to encourage her to pray and not to lose faith in God. Three months ago, all the tests relating to her heart condition came back normal. We gave God the glory for His work in her life. Two weeks later, at the age of nineteen, she fell and inured her head and her mouth. When taken to hospital, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure, to the extent that the doctors were concerned about brain damage. I had to work very hard on restoring her faith in God. She had two brain scans, which both came back normal.

As Christian mothers, we must trust God. We have to believe that, as His words say, “All things works together for the good for them that are called according to his purpose”. W h e n e v e r o u r t r i a l s s e e m overwhelming it is the time we need t o p r a y m o r e W e s h o u l d consistently let our children see our faith, so that they can be reassured that God notices their circumstances – even when situations arise that ruin their aspirations and hope. God is still on His throne and He will restore all the years that have been stolen.