THERE ARE NO PERFECT MOTHERS

“Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the Lord deserves to be praised.”  (Proverbs 31:30 CEV)

Our society sees to it that we all grow up with the notion in our head that there were two kinds of mothers: good mothers and bad mothers. Good mothers are loving, nurturing, and all-giving. Bad mothers are self-absorbed, uncaring, and inadequate. Yet most real flesh-and-blood mothers are neither all good nor all bad. Most mothers I know want desperately to be their best selves -- full of love and genuine concern. Yet the absolute dependency and endless demands of a child require every mother to give, at times, without getting anything immediate or tangible in return. No other relationship calls for endless giving and attention like that of raising and caring for a child. We expect mothers to spend their lives caring selflessly for their children without complaint....

This coming Sunday... churches... will extol the virtues of motherhood. The poem about the tireless, self-sacrificing wife and mother in Proverbs 31:10-31 will be read from pulpits and every mother attending church will nod her head publicly in agreement but berate herself privately for every instance in her mothering when she failed to live up to the biblical ideal. [Mothers need to be reminded] that there are no perfect mothers, that God knows and understands how hard it is to be expected to give unceasingly with little to nothing in return.

-- Dr. Renita Weems

#4587