Taking Care


Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Ore Glass
May 12, 2010


Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. -Proverbs 4:23 NIV

Although I was not able to spend time in the company of my children for Mother’s Day due to distance, we did the next best thing. We spent our day sending pictures back and forth on the computer, opening cards, unwrapping gifts and chatting on the phone. It was a beautiful day to be remembered and to remember my own Mother as well.

I started thinking about the role of the mother in the family. While all families are different one thing remains the same: the mother is truly the heartbeat of the family. She is the center and provides the nourishment, order, structure, discipline, love and care on an everyday basis. This doesn’t diminish fathers at all, as we couldn’t do without them, but just for today, we are going to focus on the mothers. If she is the heartbeat of the family, she basically sets the tone in the household, as well. If she is happy, everyone is happy and if she is not, nobody is! My adult children love to tell the story now, but years ago when they were young teens, if I had to discipline them, they were quick to call their Dad at work. They would tell him I was all stressed out and attempted to warn him, failing to mention they hadn’t done their chores or homework, which was the justification for the discipline in the first place! My husband and I laugh now at how crafty they thought they were. When those phone calls came in about “Mom being hard on them” he knew it was rightly deserved and he never let on until years later. I find it quite humorous that my adult daughter is now dealing with the same issues with her daughter! Yes, I guess history repeats itself!

Mothers can handle a lot of things but they are not immune to stress. If the mother is taking care of everyone, who is taking care of her? Mothers can give so much at times that they become depleted, overworked and stressed. It can take a toll and then the whole family is affected. This past week, little stresses started to multiply within me, until all of a sudden my heart rate was high and it wouldn’t slow down. Doctors can prescribe medications and that is the easy part. The hard part is to control the emotions and stresses that can overtake us at times. Being overwhelmed can happen to anyone, even those with a mild temperament. It turns out I need to do a better job of “sweating the small stuff”. I have heard it said that stress isn’t something that happens to us; rather it is our response to what happens. We just have to be aware that we have a choice what we let in to our spirit and what we reject. I’m working on it, and I can tell you that prayer helps a great deal and I couldn’t live without it. Specifically asking God to pour out His Peace is a great start. Staying positive, in faith, with hope, expectation of good health and having a grateful attitude is the only place I want to be. God will help us to filter out the unimportant and negative things than take up unnecessary space in our heart and instead, He can keep us in joy and peace with gladness. He is always there, taking care of us.