They Shall Rise Up and Call Her Blessed

I've become a MOPS mentor mom. My job? Same thing I've done all along - listen, serve, love, speak, be silent, guide, follow - the usual - be a mom. I get to give gifts, receive gifts, share my food, eat food, hold babies, laugh and cry.

Once a mom, always a mom. Our job is never done. We double our investment - sometimes triple it. We now worry about more lives and hurts and boo boos. And we get more refrigerator art and weeds to put in cut crystal vases. Our children give us more children. What a deal.

I watch these young mommies and hear the stories of triumph and defeat. I see in there sleep deprived eyes hope and fear - wondering if they are doing it right, worrying that they aren't measuring up, breathing a sigh of relief when another mom shares the same scenario they just dealt with, knowing they aren't alone.
 I remember back - many gray hairs and laugh lines ago, I was in the same place, thinking the same thoughts, having the same cares. I remember wondering what my children would be like when they grew up, wondering if I was causing more damage to their little spirits when I lost it over some really small thing. Figuring that if they turned out well it would be an act of G~d, not my parenting skills.

We've heard of the Proverbs 31 woman - A Woman of Valor, Eshet Chayil, and how her name may have been Martha Stewart - not really. In verse 28, it says, " Her children arise and call her blessed..."
I've experienced that. All those tears and prayers and arguing and exasperation and worry - they all pay off.
Hubby and I have been dealing with a very painful, hard situation lately. Our adult children watched it unfold, have heard our lament, listened to our frustration, anger and angst. They've prayed and given advice and encouragement. But through it all we know that they are also watching us to see how we're walking through it. Watching to see if all those years of training and lectures, confrontations and teaching are worth their weight in real life. After all, they'll be in the same position with their own children time and again. Does it work? 
I got a phone call from my son this morning asking how things were going. We talked. He ended the conversation by telling me he was extremely proud of his father and I for how we were standing in the midst of the adversity. Later in the day my daughter called to ask. She listened with care and concern, spoke a strong, needed word concerning my well being as the outcome unfolds.  
I am a mommy and always will be. I am a blessed mommy.