MOM-isms….we all have them… something our mother's said to us that stuck. Something that we've heard ourselves say to our own kids time and again like "sit up straight", "don't cross your eyes - they may stick that way", and my personal favorite…"don't run with scissors". As much as I hated to hear those things, somehow they became so deeply engrained in me that without even thinking, I hear myself saying them.
When I was a kid and ran into the house crying with a scraped knee, mom would usually take a long, examining look, and while reaching into the medicine cabinet would declare, "Well, I've had worse than that on my eyeball." Of course, now I realize that it was her way of trying not to alarm me - even if she was worried - and I've heard myself use that same line on my "worry wart" daughter. And where did mom hear it? From her father … who heard it from his parents, who heard it from…you get the picture. We tend to pass those things down.
I can remember as a teenager being worried about a thought that occasionally crossed my mind. It wasn't something I intended to think, but, boom, there it was. I remember expressing my concern to mom. Was I not saved? If I'm saved, how could this thought pop into my head?" It was really distressing. I can remember mom telling me, "You can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop him from building a nest in your hair." What she meant, of course, in her folksy way, was that you can't stop thoughts from spontaneously bouncing into your head, but you can control whether or not you dwell on it.
More than once mom has encouraged me to "Shoot for the moon, even if you land in the wood pile." I know now that that saying is a country adaptation of British poet Robert Browning's line, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp." She wanted us to try, to give it our all, even if we failed or came short of the goal.
Mom knew it was hard for me to push myself forward with my music and my writing. The doubts were always there. What if they don't like it? What if I embarrass myself? What if I'm not good enough? What if… what if… what if. She told me once in her rural way about my music, "Honey, you gotta push. Ain't nothin' birthed until you push." Wow. Corporations have spent thousands of dollars and loads of time on speakers, programs, and gimmicks to motivate their work force and she said it all in ten words.
I can't begin to list all of the things I've heard my mother say over the years that have impacted me and crept into my own conversation. I know I'm not alone, for all of you could list phrase after phrase of MOM-isms that you remember and use frequently. I'd love to hear them.
I am thankful for the simple, down-to-earth wisdom that my Mom displayed in dealing with us kids, and I'm sure the most significant contribution she made was to teach us about Jesus and to introduce us to the Bible where all sorts of wisdom could be found.
Mom read me a story one day of another mother, a very notable mother in the pages of scripture. This mother's words of wisdom to the servants at the wedding in Cana of Galilee still influence and instruct us today, for she told them concerning her son, Jesus, "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it."
If I pass nothing else on to my children, I hope they will remember and heed Mary's saying and pass it on to their children. I think that's the most important MOM-ism of all, don't you?
God Blessings to all this Mother's Day
Janice Crow
Author: AGM
| Author's Website: http://absolutelygospel.com/
Written: 05/01/2006
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Category: Janice Crow
Comments: 1
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Before my twins were born I was given good advice by a seasoned mother. She said "The world is not divided exactly in half for your children. Give each of them what they need when they need it." This helped me through many times when one demanded more attention than the other. Now, my daughter says that she thought the earth shook the first time she heard herself say to her two boys (not twins), "the world is not divided in half for you two". We do pass things on.
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