by Pat Lamb (Author of “Let the Children Come”; “Children, Come to Me”; “When the Stars Fall Down”; “Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way”; “My Thinking Book”. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; www.patlambchristianauthor.com)
Train up a child…
A Mother’s Love is Special
There are many heartwarming stories demonstrating the love of a mother for her children. Much respect is deserved by those mothers of physically or mentally challenged children for the hours of patience and loving care they give. Mothers seem to have a special something that fathers and others don’t have. There is no disputing that fathers play a valuable role in the upbringing of their children, but mothers have a distinct nature for nurturing her children. Both have an irreplaceable role as God intended when he planned for man and woman to unite to bring children into the world. At this time of the year, our thoughts turn to mom. I recall three personal observations illustrating a mother’s love.
When my husband and I were working with the Navajo in New Mexico and Arizona, we observed the love of the mothers for their children as they reluctantly brought them to the government boarding schools to live away from home to get an education. The vast expanse of the reservation made it impossible to have schools nearby. To give the children an education meant that most of them had to live in a dormitory. High school students had to go off the reservation to schools as far away as Oklahoma or Utah. Mothers would come to the campus of our school with beautiful Navajo rugs they had woven. They wanted to sell the rugs to get some money for their children who were going away. There were many times when we watched children cling to parents and parents to children, not wanting to let go and part from each other. Knowing the necessity of an education prompted the parents to do what only the love for a child would motivate them to do…walk off and leave the child in the hands of someone else to educate.
On one occasion in Ramah, NM, a little girl did not want to come to school. Her mother knew how important it was for the child’s future. I was teaching second grade at the time and the little girl was in my class. Her mother came carrying the girl, kicking and crying, and put her in my arms. The mother spoke very little English and I spoke even less Navajo, but the language of love is universal. I nodded to her in understanding, took the little girl in my arms and carried her into the classroom where she immediately stopped crying. I later learned from the mother’s brother that the little girl, Karen, had jumped out of the pickup on the way to school, and started to run across the field and hide, so she wouldn’t have to come to school. Her mother had jumped out of the moving pickup right behind her, climbed over a fence and taken off after her to catch her. Her brother was laughing about how her squaw skirt and turquoise jewelry were flying as she climbed that fence. (She wore a full 3-tiered skirt like a square dance skirt but floor length and velvet blouse…the traditional dress of the Navajo women.) Her brother laughed when he told us that she didn’t care what the tourists thought as they drove by on the busy highway, she was going to catch Karen and get her in school!
Another example of a mother’s love was seen in Denver when I rode with a policeman one night as a project for a class I was taking in the psychology of prejudice. Shortly after we stopped at a convenience store for coffee, we received a call that a girl had been raped at that same store. Since another car was in the vicinity, we didn’t pursue the case. At the end of the tour, we went to the police headquarters. I was curious as to what happened about the rape case, so the man I had ridden with asked the dispatcher to find out. She communicated with the police car that had been assigned to the case. The reply came back, “Male Caucasian, 6’4” tall, approximately 250 lbs., when last seen was being pursued by victim’s mother!”
Yes, mothers have a special love for the welfare of their children.