At The Well -- Motherly

MOTHERLY LOVE:

A mothers maternal instincts and human compassion are known the world over.When Absalom leads a rebellion against David, one of his advisors said "go after and kill David right away". However, his other advisor, Hushai, warned Absalom " thou knowest thy father and him men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field..." (2 Sam. 17:8). Hushai was trying to get him to picture the meanest and angriest thing he could think of, and a momma bear robbed of her cubs did the job quite well...it did so well, that Absalom followed his advice.

No hunter, in his right mind wants to get between a momma and her baby...

I learned this lesson myself at a very young age. We lived on a farm and had chickens that lived in our back yard.

When I was just a little girl, I got between a mother hen and her chicks, let me tell you this much, I didn't stay there for very long as she charged me with her wings all furled out.

This is just as true of human mothers....

- A mothers's love is universally well known.
- A mother's love is nurturing.
- A mother's love is resourceful.
- A mother's love is attentive.
- A mother's love is sacrificial.

NOT ALL MOTHERS ARE MOTHERLY.

Remember the Susan Smith story?
This is the mother who told police that a man approached her in order to take her car while her kids were in it. She got out and let that man take her car and her kids without a life & death fight. That story seemed odd
to me and Larry too. Her actions didn't seem to jive with how we expected a loving mother to act. Sure enough, we found out later the car wasn't stolen, but she had driven the car into that lake herself....

Discussion questions:
Are there areas of hardness and coldness in my life? What are the roots of these? Do I need to release someone who has hurt me in my past? Do I need to confess and release myself from the bondage of sinful patterns in my own life?

What are some ways that I can turn the conversation around when other women begin to gripe and complain about their children?

Name some creative ways we can create warm, more inviting environments for our children.

When I was maybe around 10-12 years old my father told me I was too big for him to hug.
This caused a coldness in me toward the behavior of parent and children. He use to tell me in
a very stern voice that the church we were going to was the only church and only those
who were members of this church were going to heaven. This caused me to have a hardness
in my attitude toward others of different belief.

The roots of this coldness and hardness was, I believed any thing my Father told and it might as
well have been written in the Bible.

I do not have a healthy relationship with my mother because of all the hurt and pain
that has happened between us.

I see things in my life that pattern my mother. As the saying goes I open
my mouth and my mother fall out.

When I am with other mothers and they begin to gripe and complain about their children,
I remind them that we have what we say and there could be family curses that need to be
broken. That we need to evaluate our life and see where this behavior is coming from.

My children are grown and have grown children so my answer may be quite different.
My son and I will go to gun shops and spend half a day looking at guns. We also go to
other stores and just look, most of the time we are in automotive, or hunting department.
He does however go with me to areas I like to shop in. He loves to go deer hunting. So one way
I share this with him is, we go walking in the woods and he shows me deer markings and of course
his pride in his hunting stand. We also target practice together.

As nice story about my grandson. When I would go to the country to visit with my children and
grandchildren. The oldest one (David) no matter where he was he would come running to the house
because he knew I would let him drive. When it was time for his driving test (for his license) he told his
parents he wanted Monoose to go with him. Monoose is the name my grandchildren gave me.
This made me feel very special.

Sheila loves flower and has a green thumb, I on the other hand can look at a flower and it will
die. Special times with her is looking at her flower garden. She blesses me with cuttings
that I try to grow. She gets great pleasure coming to my home and planting flowers. My home thanks
her and the environment of my home is cleaner. She is also the best interior decorators I have ever
seen. So we enjoy looking at things to make our homes prettier.

Brittany, I used to take her to the park and spend hours playing. She has turned out
do be quiet an athletic.

Landon, had a incurable disease and he would want me to spend time with him
studying and discussing this challenge.

Autumn, (the baby of the crew) liked to travel with me. Before she was 1 she went with us
to Cancun, Mexico, and again when she was 2. I had taught her to memorize Bible verses.
Traveling through the eyes of a child can bring things in prospective. Here we were in another country
where thay spoke a different language and we were staying at a large resort. When we turned
out the lights that first night. We heard Autumn say,"God has not given me the spirit of fear
but power and love and a sound mind. God is on my side".

David is in the Army waiting on orders to be shipped to Iraq. Landon is in the process of joining
the Army. Brittany is graduating this year and Autumn turns 15.

Each Monday we meet around THE WELL for lively chats, please join us at. www.titus2atthewell.com