I remember Mom playing ball with us in the backyard. She would pitch, Uncle Scott and I batted and played outfield. We lived on the top of a hill. So our "field" slanted down. Grandmom was smart - she made Uncle Scott and I run after the ball. Believe it or not, I bat left handed because that was uphill. Weird, huh?
I remember going to school every day, for 12 years, with lunch. The school we went to (after 4th grade for me) didn't have a cafeteria. We ate lunch at our desks then went outside for a bit. Grandmom made our lunch. Not an easy task. Two boys (3 lunches with Aunt Jennie), conflicting tastes, and one picky eater. But she did it, every morning. Your Pop-pop went to work with lunch too.
Yes, she taught us how to make our own. We learned the basics of spreading mayo, adding lunch meat, and grabbing a side out of the pantry. We could make our own lunch. She made it anyway.
I remember one summer when Grandmom taught us to do laundry. Okay, that only lasted until we ruined one of her dresses. Hey, she taught us on whites and said "add bleach". How was I supposed to know colors were different? We learned how to do laundry. And she did it anyway. I started doing my own when I went to college on my own.
I remember running errands on day when Uncle Scott and I were younger. My Pop-pop and Mom were in the car. They decided to go out to Friendly's for lunch. Friendly's was an ice cream place. Still is, I believe. I remember Mom and Pop-pop arguing because both of them wanted to pay for lunch. Your Grandmom is a lot like my Pop-pop.
I wonder if it ever occurred to her that she didn't have to make our lunch. Or that she didn't have to do our laundry. Or sweep the kitchen, vacuum the carpets, make beds, go grocery shopping, cook dinner every night, or any of the other things she did. All of them quiet, behind the scenes. My childhood was unremarkable. And I say that as a compliment. There were so many things I didn't know - bills, mortgages, hunger, because your Grandmom and Pop-pop bore the load.
They taught us all of these things were coming. Grandmom spent a summer teaching us how to do a budget and play the stock market. It was kind of silly. But I like math so it wasn't all that bad. My point is, even though they did so much, they still prepared us for life. This is what it means to be a mother.
Proverbs 31 describes a woman who makes breakfast for her children. Expands the fortune of her husband. Works from morning until night seeing to the needs of the family. It says that her husband sits in the gates of the city. Do you know why? Because he didn't have to do all of that himself.
A mother's praise comes from her children and her husband. Her value, her worth, is found in her family. When you lose sight of that, when you look for your value outside, from other people, is when you have failed as a mother. I've seen mothers whose children are grown go back into the workforce. The ones who have strength of character make it there too. It isn't that mothers have no talent, it's that they use their talent for their family above themselves. Knowing, trusting, believing that it will be returned to them in ways that only God can.
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