I Learned by Her Example

I expect that my eldest daughter will soon be engaged to her boyfriend and it's caused me to ask myself questions like "Is she prepared to be a good wife and mother?" "Have I taught her how to cook and clean well enough that she won't struggle in her first year of marriage?" "Have I set a good example for her?" "Will she make wise decisions for her family?"

I am so blessed to have been raised by a mother who loves the Lord and is committed to being a wonderful wife and homemaker. She never held formal classes on "how to be a good homemaker" but she taught by example every day as my siblings and I were growing up in her home.

Mom made it a priority in her life to bless others and sacrificed time, money and energy in building up the people around her, from the meter reader and mail deliverer to her neighbors and family. She provided daycare in her home to help my father with income while still being home with her children and somehow managed to make delicious dinners every night despite having had a house filled with other people's children all day. She somehow managed to care for her ill mother and other aging relatives while balancing her business and family life, too.

She was a Fun Mom. Hers was the Kool Aid House. All the kids in the neighborhood came to our yard to play and often times Mom would load up the station wagon and bring us all to the ice skating rink for the afternoon, or to the drive-in movie theater, or to Dairy Queen for ice cream.

My dad was gone a lot when we were little, working overtime or serving as a volunteer fireman or deer hunting with friends in the fall. I don't recall my mother ever complaining about the times when he wasn't home. Instead she'd say things like "Your dad sure is a hard worker!" Now, as a married woman, I know there must have been times where she felt unappreciated, lonely, exhausted... and she could have chosen to complain about Dad being gone, but she didn't. Instead she'd find ways of making those times fun for us kids.

She really loves her family and she loves being a homemaker, a mother and a wife. I learned by her day-to-day example of loving the Lord and serving others, to also love being a homemaker, mother and wife. Mom taught me how to be a Keeper at Home, To Love my Husband, To love my Children and To be Busy.

God bless her and pour His favor upon her!

How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! You will surely eat what your hands have worked for. You will be happy, and it will go well for you...May the Lord bless you from Zion, so that you will see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life, and will see your children's children. ~Psalms 128:1-2, 5-6

I pray that the generational example will be passed on to my daughters, too.