“Her children stand and bless her.” Proverbs 31:28a (NLT) / Pixabay
Strong
My image stares back at me as I stand in front of the mirror. I gaze at the reflection. Are these too tight? Does this even go together? Is this outfit still in fashion? I worry way too much about the clothes that I wear! As I ponder upon that, I realize I’ve forgotten two very important things:
- “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and body more than clothes?” Matthew 6:25 (NIV) And, that
- I learned from my mom at an early age, about the most important things to wear.
My mom. She’s one of the strongest women I know! When my dad unexpectedly chose to leave our family, she was suddenly left to raise my two sisters and me by herself, at a time when single mothers didn’t have the rights and benefits they do today. That didn’t stop her from doing what it took to** assure that we had the best childhood possible. She worked hard and sacrificed much. Mom put our needs above hers and she always made sure we knew we were loved and cared for. Her example taught us that the most important things to put on don’t come from our closet.
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:25-27 (NIV)
Yes, through the years of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, good times and bad, our mom has modeled for us her ensemble of incredible strength and dignity and she still wears them well today! So, the next time we look in the mirror let’s not look at our clothes but rather what we’re clothed in. Strength, dignity, wisdom, faith, love! With any of these we have no need to worry because one size fits all; they compliment each other; AND… they never go out of style!
This post is written as part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Friday Free Writes Challenge. You can read posts from other writers on the same topics over at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com I hope you know that I so appreciate you being here! God bless, Cindy
My hero is my maternal Grandmother, Maude Ida Greenman Burchett. This is a good story! She was widowed at 38 with 3 children. My mom only 5 months old. She and Grandad had a store in rural Iowa. With the help of her many brothers she tried to make a go of it but it wasn’t working. She was a school teacher by education and saw an advertisement for the Social Security Administration wanting employees. So she applied and was accepted with the promise that they would send her back to Iowa when the Des Moines office opened. So she got on a train with these 3 kids and rode 3 days through rain to Baltimore. She got off the train and went to the SS office where they gave her the name of a rooming house. She got that and then enrolled my aunt and uncle into school, hired someone to watch my mother and went to work the next day. This woman was under 5′ tall and didn’t weigh 100 lbs. But she raised those 3 children (successfully) lived to be 105 and lived a full and blessed life. She had a strong faith. Her passing was her blessing! Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could have been that brave. If I ever get down, I just think of Grandma and say, pull up your big girl panties and get on with it girl. To quote Luke “”Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” So my motto is, “Be a lily”. Grandma was! He always sends us what we need. xo
This is wonderful and well put Cindy! Thank you for sharing!!
Your mom sounds like an amazing, strong woman, and it’s so true that it’s what we clothe ourselves with on the inside that is most important!
I love this, Cindy! Strength, dignity, wisdom, faith, and love. May I be more concerned about being clothed with them than with material clothing. Your mom sounds like an amazing woman. Just like you! Blessings to you today, my friend!