A Mother

There are many facets to the concept of “mother.” A mother is not someone who has merely given birth to a child. In its most basic sense that individual is a mother. However, the biological action of giving birth to another does not make one a mother in its fullest sense. In the same way, the reality that a woman has not given birth to another does not necessarily exclude a woman from being a mother. Motherhood is not merely a biological link between two people. Motherhood is deeper than an action. It is a life.

Motherhood is a mentality of a woman who has invested her life in nourishing, mentoring, and sending another out on their own. A mother seeks to feed, not force; to model, not manipulate; to encourage, not control; to illuminate, not quench. Her goal is maturity, not infancy.

A mother gives up her desires and enjoyments in order to foster the development of others. Her hobbies change. Her dreams are modified. Her focus narrows. She thinks of others before herself.

It is sad that the term “mothering” is known by an aberration, rather than its intended purpose. In its proper sense, anyone should be honored to be “mothered” by a woman. To have a woman give her live in order to nourish, mentor, and send out another is love. It is a gift of God worthy of our note.

Many give birth but never mother. Many never give birth but give their lives mothering. I praise God for each of those who truly mother. I have had various women in my life who have mothered me in the fullest sense of the term. My birth mother is a true mother, one who God graciously gave to me. My mother-in-law who gives of herself, and gave her daughter to me. My grandmothers, one of whom became a mother of four by speaking the two words, “I Do.” They both have been godly mothers. There have been moms while living in foreign countries. A five foot Gloria Villalobos who loves her 6’4” white son as her own. There is Becky Carlton who opened her kitchen for cinnamon rolls and genuine care. I thank God for my wife, Crystal, who not only mothers our child, but has been a mother to many more. God gives godly woman to mother us, and then gives them His love so they might shower it upon us. I thank God for them.