Photo Source: Archives.gov
1926. The year Mother turned nine and as the Great Depression worsened, her beloved father died of cancer. Grandmother, left with two children and pregnant, began folding sheets in the local mill to earn money and provide for her little ones. Each day, while Grandmother worked at the factory, Mother cared for her younger brother, Paul, and Gray when he was born six months later.
Nine years old! Mother prepared their food, kept them safe, told them stories and comforted them when they were sad. She was not a mother and yet she mothered.
Like Miriam, sister of Moses.
Miriam lived extreme! From slavery to freedom, from leadership to exclusion, Miriam was called a prophetess, a leper, a singer and poet. Nowhere in the Bible is she called wife and mother. And yet, she mothered.
She watched over her youngest brother, Moses; took action to provide for him; and became a source of strength and encouragement to her people.
There are many women who never cradle a child. They are not asked to attend PTA meetings or sign report cards. They don’t stay up until the teenager returns home. They do not wonder at their adult child’s choices.
And yet they mother. They pray for the little ones in their class. They listen to the stories of the child. They counsel and remind and correct the teen. (And take them in and feed them.) They accept the journey of the young adult.
To those who nurture and encourage without the title “mother”, thank you.
You impact the future of the world.
I invite you to meet Miriam in Slender Reeds; Jochebed’s Hope.
