https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/07/love-like-mom
One of the things I still remember till this day is my mother sneaking a RM50 note to me before I was going to take the bus back to KL to continue with my University studies. I refused to take her money as she was not a working mother, just a housewife relying on a RM100 pocket money from my dad. Those were back in the days more than 30 years ago when my dad used to earn probably around RM1,500 as a teacher and our whole family had to live based on that paycheck. In fact when she passed away she left behind quite a sum of money although she never really worked all her life!
I’m closer to my mum compared to my dad in the sense that we could joke around. I would tease her and tell her jokes to make her laugh. Communication with my mum was usually easy and relaxed and should I say fraught with less protocol and decorum. Also she is always around when I was growing up unlike my dad who fir a time had to teach in the afternoon session or was away for his refereeing and scouting activities or had gone fishing. So I guess most children are inevitably closer to their mums because their mums are just always around at home while their fathers are busy at work. That should be true for most single income families which was the norm when I was growing up.
Paul used the expression like a nursing mother caring for her children when writing to the church in Thessalonica and that he worked tireless day and night so that he was not a burden to them. There is a sense that caring for our sheep is like a mother caring for her children, protective and yet sacrificial. Mothers will always be the first to eat the squirrel head while leaving all the meaty parts to her children and her husband. I see that in my own wife, who is always putting the needs of our family above her own. Always saving for a rainy day and coming out with most when something major happens. And uniquely so, God answers her simple prayers so quickly, probably driven by her genuine love and sincerity. God somehow magically answers a mother’s prayers and our family experienced just that last week.
As much as we look to the father as the protective and assertive shepherd as the role model for leadership and shepherding, we must never forget the role of mothers who are usually more sacrificial and selfless. Will we lay down our lives and put our needs aside, focusing on the needs of our sheep and those under us? Will we be the ones always praying for our sheep? My mum when she was alive used to pray a lot for me and my family. Can we be like our mothers?
Blessed Mother’s Day, all mothers out there!
Ronnie's Thoughts 