Momma's

Greetings All,

I want to share with you this morning the description that John Steinbeck writes of Ma from The Grapes of Wrath.

"Ma was heavy, but not fat; thick with child-bearing and work.  She wore a loose Mother Hubbard of gray cloth in which there had once been colored flowers, but the color was washed out now, so that the small flowered pattern was only a little lighter gray than the background.  The dress came  down to her ankles, and her strong, broad, bare feet moved quickly and deftly over the floor.  Her thin, steel-gray hair was gathered in a sparse wispy knot at the back of her head.  Strong, freckled arms were bare to the elbow, and her hands were chubby and delicate, like those of a plump little girl.  She looked out into the sunshine.  Her full face was not soft; it was controlled, kindly.  Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding.  She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken.  And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself.  And since, when a joyful thing happened, they looked to see whether joy was on her, it was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials.  But better than joy was calm.  Imperturbability could be depended upon.  And from her great and humble position in the family she had taken dignity and a clean calm beauty.  From her position as healer, her hands had grown sure and cool and quiet; from her position as arbiter she had become as remote and faultless in judgment as a goddess.  She seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone."from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck pgs. 99-100

I read this a couple of days ago and it just struck me as it so aptly describes so many women that I know.  Women whose trust in the Lord has placed them as family back bones, the key that holds the whole family together.  Women who experience pain, loss, doing without, and hurt yet choose to trust God that it will all work out in the end; women who can always be counted on for that smile of hope, that twinkle of joy, that look of unconditional love.  Women who make you believe that God really could love someone like you because they love someone like you. 

This morning take a moment to reflect on the women in your life and consider who are the "Maws" of your life?  Who are those women that you depend on no matter what because you know you can?  Who are those women that love you no matter what you've done?  Who are those women who make you know that God is real because He is fully present in them?  When you have identified them, give them a call, a hug, write them a card, take a moment to acknowledge what their faith, hope, joy and love have meant in your life.  Thank them for allowing God to use them in such a subtle but mighty way.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron