Mothers

Mothers are very important to children. They provide the lifeblood, the mind energy, and the "soul food" that every child needs in order to flourish. Fathers show us how to survive. Mothers teach us how to blossom and flourish. The mother must teach, nurture, guide, and provide the spiritual support system that the soul requires to unfold. When a child does not have a mother, some portion of the mind, the soul, and the life of the child remains in a constant state of yearning and want. What the child wants is to be feed and loved in a way that only a mother can love. Only a mother can bring forth the grace, mercy, beauty, and gentleness of the spirit. The spirit of God. The spirit of mothering energy is present in every woman. Whether she knows it or not, a woman is a mother, simply by virtue of the fact that she is a woman.....

When a woman does not know she is a mother, or how to be a mother, the children around the house become lost. She is not sensitive to them or there needs. Her words are spoken harshly. Her actions are abrupt and abrasive. She is authoritarian. She knows the words of mothering but not the grace. The grace of the mother's love will break the rules, when it is necessary, in order to nourish a child. In the face of an authoritarian mother, a childs growth is stunted. When a child has an unfolded heart, it is too difficult, too dificult for her to express how she feels, or what she needs. Unexpresed feelings and need lead to anger and fear.

When a woman has not touched the part of her spirit that is God, she cannot offer God to her children. She cannot give love, perhaps because she has not received love. She follows the rules that say that love, loving, and the mercy of love are weaknesses. When a woman with a closed heart is placed in the role of a mother, she can't be anything but weak.

Taken from "Yesterday, I cried" by Iyanla Vanzant

Today my son turned 16. He is my baby. I have spent a lot of this past week refelcting on motherhood and how well I did, or didn't do the things a mother is suppose to do. I grew up with a mother just like the one described above, one who has not touched the part of of her spirit that is God. I tried to do better, but when one doesn't grow up with those things it is difficult. I did fond that part of my spirit that is God for a long time when my kids were little. When my son was about 8 the disease began to rob me of that spirit of God within me. Somehow my children seem to have been blessed with that Spirit. They are confident and have a spiritual support system. I am grateful for my recovery and to my Higher Power for helping me to provide that for my kids and for the gifts I have received.