Wisdom From A Mom From the 60s

Having been given the opportunity to write for Christian Moms Blog, I set to thinking what I, a very senior “Mom,” could share with today’s modern mothers that might enlighten, encourage, and perhaps entertain them a bit. As a Christian, I would like to state emphatically that without the Grace of God and His strengthening me in my weak moments and His holding me firmly in His Almighty hand, I simply would not have made it.

I was a young mother in the 1960s and those were tumultuous years – the 1960s and 1970s. So much was changing morally, politically, and socially. But even in the midst of that turmoil and the heart-wrenching news of the day, my biggest concern was my home – my young family and my dear husband. We had a large family. We had four children in just under six years, and then child number five was born just as the others were all settled nicely in school. So a full house.

And a very limited amount of cash to provide our necessities. We weren’t destitute, but things were really tight. So care in spending was our way of life. No extras to speak of. No vacations. No frills. I cooked. I cleaned. I made our clothes when we had new clothes. I re-made hand-me-downs.

Our family was active in our local church. I taught VBC and Sunday School, and I sang in the choir. My husband taught the adult Sunday School class and was a Deacon. He was also a trustee of the small Christian school our church began. We took our children to church, and our life revolved very much around church activities.

So life was busy. Life was a joy. Life was physically hard at times. Life was emotionally difficult at times. And life took a toll on me physically and emotionally. Stress kicked in and it kicked hard.

On several occasions, my body or my mind simply betrayed me and screamed “Stop” so loudly that it rattled me to the core.

Hospital visits. Frightening signs of heart distress that are even more frightening when it happens to a young mother with a mountain of responsibilities at home. Emotional breakdowns and medications to get through the stress.

Signs that I was weak or that my burden was too much. But no matter the cause, I found a peace that would come. A knowing that I had a source of strength and comfort.

And from God’s Word, the words in Isaiah 26 became a vital reality to me… 

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

And even today, in my advanced senior years and though my days of being a young stressed-out mother are way past, I find that I am still a Christian Mom. My mothering is from a distance for my grown kids who have grown kids of their own. I am a Christian wife whose husband died just over a year ago, and I no longer have those “wifely” duties. I am a Christian woman who has experienced aging, survived cancer, and daily tries to live gracefully in the isolation and loneliness of this time of life.

And still……

I have that assurance of “perfect peace” as I keep my mind “stayed” on God. I trust Him for His faithfulness now, and I trusted Him for His faithfulness through the years.

So to young mothers today, I encourage you to gather your family close, treasure each moment you have with them even though some of those moments are difficult, and seek God’s comfort and His strengthening power. I hope you will find joy in knowing that you are an instrument of God on Earth as you walk this path. And I hope you will be entertained by the wee moments of delight that flash before you as the antics of your loved ones are played out through the days.

Treasure the joys. Discard the pain. Share the hope.