Becky Weatherly - A Mother's Perspective

It's Mother's Day week!!! If you know me well, you know that I love women. Mother's Day is the perfect holiday for me. I thought that this week I would do an interview with a different mom each day. Mothers in all different stages and situations...even one without children! I hope you enjoy their perspective! If you are a guy, you will glean something good from these I am sure.

The first mom is Becky Weatherly. I have known her since I was born...or at least really little. I played a lot at her house when I was a kid. She is a mother of six. Yes, six. And now she has two grandbabies. Becky lives in Waco, Texas. Here is what she has to say.

How do you define motherhood?
- Laying down your life 24/7/365 for a child who will not realize or appreciate your sacrifice until that child is a parent too...and knowing you would do it all over again.

What does "mothering" look like in your season of life now that your children are grown?
- Mothering now is being a friend and mentor to my adult children and enjoying seeing what amazing people they've become. I'm also reveling in my grandchildren. What a sweet surprise they are!

What are some of the biggest challenges you faced as a mom?
- For me one of the biggest challenges as my children got older was seeing them hurt and not being able to fix it and make it better the way I could when they were young. I think of watching one son, an outstanding athlete, miss much of his athletic career because of injury, and seeing another go through the hard emotional pain of watching his best friend die in his arms. Also, seeing your child make mistakes, as they all do, and having to stand back and let them, knowing the consequences can be grave. I learned, through God's grace and wise counsel, to let them grow through their struggles and to entrust God with their lives. If we try to play God in our children's lives by fixing everything for them, they don't learn to trust Him. We really do grow the most in our Christian walks when we go through trials. Getting out of God's way and allowing Him to have His way with my children was definitely a challenge, but I've watched God be faithful with each one.

What has motherhood taught you?
- Motherhood has taught me humility in a way nothing else has. I think most of us start out as parents believing that if we do A, B, and C, read all the right books and try our best, our children will grow up perfect and make us so proud. What we learn is that dispite our best efforts, our children are human, bent toward sin, and they learn, just as we did, by making mistakes, sometimes embarrassingly public mistakes. Our egos may take a beating, but our job as mothers is to continue to love our children unconditionally, to let them know we are always proud they belong to us, and to not give up on them. If you are one of those blessed parents whose children don't hit these bumps and who sail through adolescence, teenage years and young adults with grace, hallelujah. For the rest of us, the challenge is REALLY trusting God's promises regarding our children, and believing that He will be faithful. As a mother of six grown children - a mother who made lots of mistakes- I can say God IS faithful.