When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.-2 Tim 1:5

I feel compelled to disclose the fact that I am not a mother, though I hope someday to be.  When I think of the responsibility entailed in raising children, I am filled with admiration for my mother.  She is a woman who has worked for all of my life to pass on the genuine faith to me, her elder daughter.  I know it hasn’t been easy.  Growing up, even my friends at church were allowed to miss services for special TV programs or school activities.  They were allowed to participate in worldly activities that at times I wanted to participate in as well.  My mother (and father too!) always stood firm.  I know she faced criticism from all sides:  I was too “sheltered” and she was too “strict”.  I thank God for the emphasis she placed on spiritual matters and maturity.  She made sure I was always about the Lord’s business and like Dorcas, she was full of good works and charitable deeds (Acts 9:36).

 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. 

 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:-Proverbs 31:26-28

 God and His Word always came first in our house and it has carried with me to this day.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.-Proverbs 22:6

 In this world, it is far too easy for a young girl to be caught up in preoccupation with physical beauty and material things.  My mother, in her effort to pass along the genuine faith, always put her emphasis on inner beauty, stressing continually that it was our character that mattered to the Lord.  I learned to be mindful that He looks at the heart, not at the outward man.

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.-I Peter 3:3-4

My mother was not raised in a Christian home and thus married a non-Christian.  Thanks to the diligence of some good friends, she was baptized into Christ when I was a baby.  My father did not immediately follow suit, but she made sure that I attended worship with her while he stayed home.  It was not long before my father obeyed the gospel as well.

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives.-I Peter 3:1

She was diagnosed with a rare illness in her early twenties and underwent surgery to remove her thymus gland.  For a time she improved, although was never considered fully healthy.  Although her health has been complicated by additional illnesses and has been considerably worse for some time now, that does not stop her.  She works to encourage others in any way she can, even as she is mostly housebound.  In this way, she continues to pass along the genuine faith as I see her go about the Lord’s work in whatever state she is in.

I am truly grateful for her example and hope to someday follow in her footsteps, passing on the genuine faith that was passed to me.

Many daughters have done well,But you excel them all.  Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.-Proverbs 31:29-30

AMY