Defining Mom

DEFINING MOM

We can probably come up with many adjectives to describe our mothers. And a mom wears many hats and fulfills many roles in the household. But today I want to highlight some of the staple traits that define the majority of moms. Not that these terms can't be applied to those who aren't a mom, but we can attest to how they are fitting terms to define mom.

1) Sacrificial.

Moms sacrifice for the well being of their kids. They let go of their personal preferences so their kids can have things. Even though Mom could use some new clothes she forfeits that "luxury" for the sake of getting the kids new school clothes. She would go without a meal if there was only enough food for the kids. And she would think nothing of it.

Some moms even choose to sacrifice keeping their kids so they can have a better life. It takes all they have to let their precious child go so they can survive and have a chance at life. Many foreigners have done that. If their homeland is impoverished or war-stricken, they send their children off to America. I can't imagine the pain and grief of coming to that conclusion-knowing you will probably never see them again.

When I think of biblical moms that have let their children go like that I think of Moses' mother. You may be familiar with the story but there is something interesting about her sacrifice. Pharaoh had commanded the midwives that if any Hebrew gave birth to a male he was to be thrown into the Nile. Moses was born after this command was given. What was his mother going to do?

Exodus 2:1-10, "Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

According to Ex. 6:20, Moses' mother was Jochebed. So Jochebed knows that she couldn't hide Moses forever. Can you imagine how fearful those three months must have been for her? Then add on the agony of having your baby with you for three months and then putting him in a basket and sailing him down a river littered with crocodiles? I'm sure she planned for the basket to go toward the bathing area of Pharaoh's daughters but anything could happen on the way; nothing would be predictable.

So she has Miriam, Moses' older sister, watch to see how things went. Sure enough, Moses lands in the hands of Pharaoh's daughter. She has pity and decides not to have him put to death; which is another chance Jochebed would be taking. How did she know Pharaoh's daughter wouldn't bring the boy to her father to have him put to death?

But that didn't happen. Miriam asks if she wanted her to get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby. She does and we see Jochebed come back into her baby's life. This would be bittersweet. When Moses was born her joy was bittersweet because of Pharaoh's decree, now she is in this position again.

When Moses was born, she had him for three months but knew that it couldn't stay that way. Now, she knows again that she would be with her baby only until he was weaned. Jochebed made a double sacrifice. She released him down the river after three months and then released him again to Pharaoh's daughter after three years.

Can you imagine the mental and emotional toll this would take on a mother? How much could she really enjoy the time spent with her baby all the while knowing she was going to have to give him back and may never see him again? Knowing he would be raised as an Egyptian-the very ones who had enslaved her people.