My Mother, My Friend
As a teenager, I despised my mother’s instruction. According to me, her calm response to life was infuriating. Her views on morality were extreme. Her uncomplaining love for her husband, even when things were difficult, was foolish. Her decision to homeschool me from Kindergarten to Grade 10 was an unnecessary and harmful overreaction. She exaggerated the dangers of the world and its philosophies. Her continual references to God and the Bible in relation to history and the present were simple-minded.
Now I am 24. The attitudes and actions that characterized those years fill me with shame and regret. According to me, Mum’s calm acceptance of what God brings is admirable. Her views on morality are correct. Her commitment to her husband is an example I hope to emulate some day. Her passion for homeschooling is a sensible response to a public school system that denies God. Her God-focused and Biblically-informed view of life is a continual encouragement.
This change came about due to the work of the Holy Spirit through my mother’s prayers. Mum was not aware of all I was involved with during those years. However, she knew enough to realize that I was headed for destruction. In the midst of this, Mum never accepted my rebellion as the status quo. She never retreated into justifications like “it’s just how kids are these days”, or “there is nothing I can do”. Instead, Mum continued her habit of interceding for her children.
The answers to my mother’s prayers did not come all at once. Nor did they come in the way she would have liked. God used a serious crush fracture to my spine in a car accident to force me to stop and think. He used fear of demonic forces from my dabbling in “white” witchcraft to show me that He was the only one powerful enough to protect me and set me free. Following my personal experience of God’s love and freedom, it took months for me to realize I needed to abandon many sins.
Even after I was established on the right path, God continued to use difficulties to show me truth. He used years of back pain from my injury to show me the value of a calm and quiet spirit. He used the anguish of seeing women campaign for the right to kill their unborn children to show me the value of the home and child centered life that had been modeled for me during my homeschooling years. It was my mother’s joy to bear four children, and she would have loved more.
God used years of study at a secular university to wear down my opposition to His Word. I saw for myself the dangers of the world and its philosophies, and finally I believed what my mother had always taught. Through the many attacks on my faith at university, I learnt to base my thinking upon the Bible. The difficulties of being taught at a secular university also deepened my appreciation for Mum’s example of womanhood. Instead of following a feminist vision of self-fulfillment, which was advocated at university, Mum found fulfillment in service to others.
Through all this, Mum supported, loved, and cried for me. Best of all, she kept on praying. Mum was immeasurably blessed as she saw me transformed into a new creation in Christ. She rejoiced to see me walk in life, not death. In hope, not despair. In faith, not fear. I grew to love God’s ways, which my mother had loved for more than thirty years. Somewhere along the way, our relationship became less one sided. As the Holy Spirit worked in my life, I had something to give to her. Now she loves to share fellowship with me, and we learn from one another. My mother is my friend, and I am hers.
-Submitted by Sherrin Ward for the Mother's Day Contest. Sherrin writes, "Thanks for the opportunity to submit something to the mother's day contest. I did not expect to submit anything, but then I really wanted to. I have spent many hours upon it, and I hope that it is a blessing. It is a story of transformation, hope, and the power of my mother's prayers. I have pasted it below and included it in a document."
posted by Crystal Paine at 12:12 PM
1 Comments:
THANK YOU! for writing this! 3 weeks ago our 18 year old son moved out. He has chosen to look to the world. I have beat myself up for weeks now wondering what I have done so wrong. I know I've made mistakes as we all do, but I do think I learn from them. My husband has been such a comfort and constantly telling me that we have been faithful, it is our son that has the problem. Then Saturday night I read the Pearl's 5th part to their Jumping Ship. OH MY! I was even more hurt, because according to M. Pearl it is our fault, we parents are the ones that need to change, we need to accept the son's divorce from us and so on. He also states that if we do not agree with him (M. Pearl) we are 'full of pride'. I went to bed even more discouraged and begging God for wisdom and understanding, then God gave me such a peace that I have not had in many weeks. He reminded me that HE is the only one that draws a person to Himself. In the example of the Prodigal, God does not point out all the shortcomings of the father or mother. It is the son that strayed away, and it was the son that needed to repent. And once the son did come home, the father's faithful reaction was to forgive and REJOICE. The father remained faithful, looking for his son to leave the pigpen and return. The following day, Sunday, God gave our pastor the PERFECT sermon to confirm the peace I needed. I know God meant it for everyone, but it was as if it were tailor made for me.
Reading your testimony reminds me that not all children that "jump ship" do so because of their parents. You give me even more hope that God will bring our son to repentance. Thank you again for sharing, and you have brought a smile to my face this morning. Praise God for HIS mercy.
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