“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

Without a doubt, the strongest emotion I have ever experienced has been in response to my children. There is little debate that motherhood takes a woman to the “breadth, length, depth, and height” of the human psyche. Beth Moore

Who remembers the Kodak commercial in the late 1970s with the silver haired woman packing up the home she had obviously lived in for decades? She pauses to look at old family photos as she removes them from the wall, holds them close as if she expects them to spring to life, and her eyes reveal her thoughts, “Where did the time go?” I found it on YouTube today. The scene is tender and sad and all too real for me at this stage of life, but it is the music that reduces me to a puddle of tears. Paul Anka (and everyone under 40 says, “Who is he?”) croons “The Times of Your Life” as brief clips of times remembered dance across the screen. The lyrics begin “Good morning, yesterday. You wake up and time has slipped away.”

I love the quote by a Nashville blogger named Nick Shell who said, “These are the longest days and the shortest years of our lives.” Any middle-aged woman who runs across a faded photo of her now adult children understands that concept in a bittersweet way. For all moms, whether you are struggling with toddlers or teenagers—it’s true. At some point you see your life as a collage that has gone by so fast you wish you could have a few “do-overs.”

“Pondering” comes naturally to most mothers. Pity the mother who doesn’t stop to notice the sacred moments that happen in the middle of very ordinary, and sometimes exhausting, days. I love the fact Luke 2:19 links the words “treasured” and “pondering.” A treasure of the heart can never be lost because it can be “pondered” again and again through the years.

Pray for the gift of being aware that this life is temporary, that there are MOMENTS in every season when God gives you eyes to see eternal significance—a lesson learned that is like a precious jewel passed from one generation to the next—a fulfillment of the many scriptures that speak of blessing the faithful from one generation to the next. That is the legacy of Believers.

This is our issue for women, and it is largely dedicated to mothers. I cannot wait for you to meet my new friend, Sara Williams Berry, who is our cover story. She was one of my all-time favorite interviews. Her commitment to “just do the next right thing in front of you,” should be the mantra of all women everywhere. If God is God and if He has all wisdom, knowledge, power, and love for His children, how can it be scary to walk in faith when you aren’t sure where the path is going?

We really don’t have any “perfect” women here, but I think we do have a diverse representation of women who have an array of daily battles to face in this very broken world but they are each finding their “coping” skills in a relationship with the One who promised to never leave us or forsake us.

And I will put my money on Him every time. He is faithful.

I know I have said it before, but this just might be my favorite issue ever!

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From Marilyn’s Bookshelf

 

 

Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood
By Melissa B. Kruger

This 11-week devotional Bible study is filled with insight, comfort, and inspiration for mothers at every season of life. Mothers of toddlers, teens, and adult children will find this a book to cherish. A great study for you or with a group. I could not put it down.

 

 

 

The Garbage Truck Comes on Tuesdays and Fridays
by Janie Walters

Madison resident Janie Walters is an award-winning human communications specialist, professional speaker, former teacher, Believer, and one of the funniest people you will ever meet. Rich with biblical wisdom about dealing with the mental and emotional garbage that plague most of us at some point in our journey, it is a great and entertaining read for anyone between the ages of 18 and 80—or beyond! Good Mother’s Day happy! www.janiewalters.com

 

Into the Free and When Mountains Move
by Julie Cantrell

Julie Cantrell is an Oxford resident, a Christy Award winner, a mom, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. The leading character in these novels is a Mississippi girl born on the wrong side of the tracks in the era of the Great Depression. Millie’s story is a page-turner and a narrative of real struggle and God’s mysterious way of sometimes changing tough things and sometimes simply giving us the strength to endure.