Women of Faith
Do you ever look back over your life and think of specific situations or people who had a lasting impact on you? There are a handful of people who truly made that kind of impact on my life. Out of that group of people, two really stand out to me the most. The first one is my mother and the second is my aunt.
When my mother was on her last half of pregnancy with her eighth child, our family was immigrating to the United States. The journey took about five months, and she delivered my brother in one of the countries we had to pass through on our way here. When we finally arrived in America, we ended up in a small town far away from where we were supposed to live. Nobody spoke our language in this town, so my parents had to learn English fast. My father quickly found a job and got busy providing for the family. That left my mom with the task of registering us for school and taking us to the doctor and dentist; all of which requires speaking in a new language. Within a few months, my parents found a small, old house and our family moved in. My mom took up the task of renovating the house the best she could with what she had.
Within one year, my amazing mother traveled to a new country with seven children and another on the way, learned a new language, and bought and renovated a house for her family. I do not remember her falling apart in the midst of all this. What I do remember is her gathering us in the evening for prayer. Before we would pray, she would list all the things we will be thanking God for that day. If there was a difficulty our family was facing, she recruited us to pray through those things together and taught us to have faith that God hears us when we pray. When those things would be resolved, Mom reminded us that we had prayed that God would make a way, and He did. We would proceed to beginning our usual evening prayer with thanking Him for those things and, prayer after prayer, our faith was built up.
My mother never gave in to despair. She faced every situation with strength, relying solely on her Heavenly Father. Because of her faith in God, Mom lived each day being sure of who she was and sure of what the future holds. She might have had thoughts of worry or fear, but in her actions and her speech, she was confident and unwavering. Living with a woman like that for a mother makes everything seem possible. For several years, she was working three jobs and still had a pot of freshly made borsch, a fresh pot of chicken plov, and a good sized tub of Olivye Salad ready for the nine of us to fill our bellies with. She had been in a serious car accident, had broken her leg, broken her back, and managed to keep all of us out of trouble, while still helping other families during her time of recovery.
Speaking of keeping us out of trouble: one time my mom found out that one of my brothers tried to go to some party. She made a few phone calls, found out where it was, met him there and took him home. All the way home he heard about how she was praying for her children to stay pure, never compromising with sin. He lost interest in attending any questionable gatherings from that day forward. That particular brother will be looking into the eyes of his bride with a clear conscience in a few months, saying his marriage vows, untouched by this world. I can write an entire book about all the ways my mother overcame hardship after hardship and did not break. Maybe one day I will, but for the sake of keeping this post quick and easy to read, I will conclude with this: her confidence in her God gave her an unbreakable identity, and that identity passed on to all nine of her children. All of us have inherited that unwavering faith we saw in our mother. A few of us are still on our way there, but most of us are actively involved in ministry.
Every time I consider the real life example my mom has been to me, I remember Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego. Those three young men did not bow and did not break, even in the face of a fiery furnace. What kind of women raised them? What kind of woman was Moses’ mother? Moses had to live in the house of Pharaoh, but his mother was able to instill in him his true identity in the short three years she had with him. What kind of woman was Mary? By the time He was twelve years old, Jesus knew exactly who He was and why He was here. I wonder, what kind of mothers were these women? They must have been women of unwavering faith, both in speech and in action. That is the kind of woman I want to be.
I have heard some women express their disappointment that their children are holding them back from pursuing their dreams or stepping into their ministry. Let me speak the truth to you: You are not GOING TO step into your calling. THIS IS IT! Don’t miss this season, waiting for better days. You are right in the center of your greatest calling: imparting identity into the next generation.
If you are a mother and are feeling like your job is of little importance, I would encourage you to go back and read through the stories of the giants of faith in the Bible. Who raised those men and women? Who taught them about the Almighty God, who is their Creator, and that they are made in His image? You don’t know yet whom God has entrusted into your care. The time you spend investing into your children is never of little importance.
