Honoring Mothers
Why A Mother’s Influence Can’t Be Overstated
By Dr. James Dobson
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers”. James 1:16
Many women feel that the job of “mom” is boring and monotonous—and they are right! But so is practically every other occupation. I once stayed in a hotel next to the room of a famous cellist. I could hear him through the walls (believe me!) as he practiced hour after hour. He did not play beautiful symphonic renditions; he repeated scales over and over. As the cellist strolled onstage that evening, I’m sure many in the audience thought, “What a glamorous life!” Some glamour. He spent the entire day alone in his hotel room.
Few of us enjoy heart-thumping excitement each moment of our professional lives. How thrilling is the work of a medical pathologist who examines bacterial cultures from morning until night or a dentist who spends his days drilling and filling? The job of a homemaker can be about as boring as most others. Yet in terms of significance, no job can compete with a mother’s task of shaping and molding a human being in the morning of life (though humanists would have us believe otherwise).
Not every woman chooses to be a mother, of course, but those who do are worthy of our admiration and respect. “Children,” we are told in Scripture, “are a blessing” (Psalm 37:26, TLB). If so, then mothers are His loving gift to them.
From Dr. and Shirley Dobson’s book Night Light for Parents.
Dr, Dobson also writes:
Dear Moms (Dads can read along),
We have chosen to devote our newsletter this month to mothers around the world. It features an article published with permission from Taste of the South magazine, and was written by Betty Terry. It caught the attention of our daughter, Danae Dobson, who is proud of our southern heritage and its culinary traditions. I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up enjoying wonderful cooking by the women in our family. My mother was one of the best, and she learned her craft from several generations of gifted southern cooks. She could scurry into a kitchen at the last minute and come out with the most scrumptious meals. Mom is in heaven now, but she passed along her expertise to my Shirley and Danae, who are handing those traditions on to the new generation of Dobsons. My mom also taught me to fry chicken. You should hope that some fine day I’ll serve this dish to you, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, green peas, hush puppies and a marvelous salad. If you’re really lucky, Danae will bake an apple pie for you, the kind you can’t buy in the finest restaurants in the country. You won’t lose weight on this diet, but it won’t matter. Some things are just that good.
I think you’ll appreciate the following piece, which is followed by Danae’s comments about the ladies in our family. I loved them all.
