A Mother's Heart: Nurturing, Not Just For Moms Anymore

One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair.

She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"

Her mother replied "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then asked, "Momma, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?"

Lately, it seems like I’ve seen a lot of talk about the rise in mental illnesses. In fact, this last Thursday May 6th was “National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.” From young children to adults more and more people are being diagnosed with mental disorders. Why?

Depression, timidity, being antisocial, anxious, & and all the other anxiety related problems. There are hundreds.

I read a study that was done by 33 distinguished children’s doctors, research scientists, mental health and youth service professionals because of the concern over the rising rates of mental illness, behavioral problems and emotional distress among U.S. children and teens…& do you want to know what the findings pointed to as a major cause for the increase in mental illnesses? A Lack of Nurturing.

Nurture: The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care; education; training. Grow/Develop (physical, emotional, spiritual-feed,love,train

The brain requires these needs to be met in order to develop correctly or it leads to what we have today – mental disorders

A psychology definition: in nature, the kind of care given to the young by the female or in mankind by parental femininity. This is where we think MOM’s should come in.

The Mother’s Heart (Show Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2jobolL7iE

When you think about what a mom goes through, from the pregnancy on, in the raising up of her children, you might think it would make mother’s hate their children, but instead they often learn what unconditional love is and love them so much they would risk everything for them.

I think about the MARY Mother of Jesus

The favored girl had to have some concerns because unwed pregnancy was a little different back then. You could be divorced and outcast at a minimum and at worse, stoned for it. I’m sure she was happy to find out Joseph, got the same message. And yes, she was going to give birth to the divine Gift of heaven, but, as any mother knows, all gifts come with some work attached. From birth in manger to hiding in a foreign land and all that took place between:

She still had to change the Baby Jesus’ diapers, soothe him as he teethed, teach him to walk & talk, wipe his nose, and clean up his skinned knees. She had to cook the meals and wash his clothes and do all the things that moms do for their children.

It’s interesting the places we see Mary mothering Jesus in the gospels — for example, at the temple sending out an APB for her boy. (After a frantic search and long walk, I believe I would have grounded Jesus if he told me that he was just doing his father’s business) Another mothering moment of Mary’s was when she was at the wedding feast apparently exasperated with her thirty-year-old (perceived failure to launch) son for not doing that “thing” he could do with the water. When Jesus seems to refuse (it’s not my time) to come through the way she knows he can, she goes around him and tells the servants to get ready to do something for him. And Jesus does the miracle. I would have loved to have been there to see the looks pass between mother and son that night.

And then we see Mary at the crucifixion. Disciples may scatter, followers may be in hiding, but a mother stays, at the risk of losing her own life, when the rest of the world walks away. In fact, Mary is a perfect picture of real motherhood: a lot of excitement followed by years of work and moments of intense pain. But through it all, she is there. A Mother’s Heart.

Unfortunately, not all moms are picture perfect. Maybe you realize as a mom that you failed in being “Nurturing” OR Maybe, your mom failed you…

The Good News is that in our need to be “Nurtured” – if we will accept God for who He is and learn to trust in Him – then He will “Nurture” us.

God’s Mother Heart

Though we usually, relate to God in the masculine form, God isn’t a human, He is Spirit, and when He created Adam & Eve – He created them in His image – they both had qualities of God. Therefore, God has both male & female qualities.