Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.
When I was almost 42, my precious daughter, Joy entered the world. Celebrating her birthday by attending a concert by Paul Simon found us walking arm in arm, as close friends, sharing secrets, ideas, dreams. She wrote all about it in her latest Substack post—I know you will love reading it.
We came upon a bakery with her favorite pastries. Fortitude it boldly proclaimed.
Fortitude: the mental/moral strength to, persevere, withstand fear, difficulty.
Does it matter? The days of messes, children bickering, forming beauty out of chaos? One more sleepless night only to find more demanding hours awaiting our attention.
Endless, relentless days of cooking, cleaning, serving, correcting, repeating it over again?
Working through relationships with beloved adult children, issues bubbling up, difficulties abounding, the risk of being misunderstood, unnoticed.
After 45 years of marriage, 43 years of mothering, I know that every kiss, tender, gentle moment of talking, being patient, every late night feeding, midnight discussion with my bewildered teens and adult children, all matters profoundly. What would a world hope for if there were not great women committed to serving, civilizing, bringing beauty from chaos and believing courageously in the truths of God, during dark times? Courageous women are building a legacy of faith, love, goodness.
I know your faithfulness matters, because serving my children, giving my imperfect best, gave them an opportunity to ponder God, to grow beyond my meager offerings into their own potential for living truly in their generation. There is a sacredness of marriage, family, faith, life of human beings born into the world as tiny, dependent babies. We give worth to these truths by daily fortitude.
Your choice to trust God is ringing out cheers in the heavens because it is so rare. No formulas, no guarantees of exact results. We do not control our adult children’s choices. But they are more likely to follow truth if it has been lived out in myriad moments of serving, loving, feeding, listening, praying, teaching faithfully over years. Faithfulness happens over thousands of days, years, of laying down our lives. Today, you are writing your story of faith and faithfulness. Podcast today!