By Brenda Kelly

It’s Mother’s Day week! The day of so many mixed emotions. It’s a day to be honored and made to feel special, a day for a favorite meal or activity, cards and flowers, phone calls and visits from children no longer at home … but it’s also a day to be reminded of THAT GAL! You know her … the one on the pedestal in Proverbs 31. How can I accept the honor of this day when I can’t even begin to measure up to her?

Especially with that one verse. You’ve already thought of it! You know, the one that says, “Her children rise up and call her blessed.” Ughhh …  I’m a homeschool mom! I’m the one that must make those kids sit down and do their math, learn cursive, write papers, and listen to hundreds and hundreds of read-alouds. I’m the one that requires them to eat green things, do household chores, and reminds them that just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean that our family will. After all of that, they will never “rise up and call me blessed!”

Raised by a Dutch father and a German mother, I was no stranger to hard work. Dad would get up at 4 AM to weed the garden in the summer or snow blow the driveway in the winter before he left for his draftsman job at General Electric. Mom spent hours at rummage sales unearthing treasures that she could alter to outfit us kids. In the fall, my mind fills with memories of Dad and Mom working together to freeze corn – Mom scalding the corn, Dad cutting it off the cob and us kids filling freezer bags. Nothing was wasted or thrown away. Everyone contributed.

My parents set such a good example and backed that example up with good teaching that all us kids knew how to work hard. So those parts of Proverbs 31 that talk about THAT GAL “working with willing hands,” “bringing food from afar,” “rising up while it is yet night,” “not eating the bread of idleness” …

those parts never scared me. I could do that!

But this homeschooling thing. This different thing. It was hard!

Of course, it wasn’t hard at first. I naively struck out in full confidence. We joined our local homeschool support group and participated in amazing field trips. We ate medieval feasts in full costume with homeschool family friends. We had fun on Math Game Fridays and Library Tuesdays. We drew maps and learned about history starting with Genesis 1.

And then the children got older. And there were more of them. And my heart waivered. Could I really teach them what they needed to know to be successful in life? Would they resent me for keeping them home? How would my boys find good careers to support their own families? Would they love and follow after God? So many questions filled my brain and caused an anxious heart.

Turning to God in those dark nights of questioning, I heard “stay the course,” “persevere,” “I AM sovereign and in control.” And the foundation from my parents to do the hard things, along with the knowledge that I was doing what God wanted, no matter the results, lifted me up and carried me through.

The children matured. They graduated. They found careers and spouses. They love God and serve Him in local churches and on the mission field. And I learned a sweet lesson about THAT GAL …

It wasn’t because of her abilities, her tireless work, her amazingly astute business mind, that her children rose up and called her blessed. It was because she was faithful to the calling that God gave to her, and He took care of the results.

God has blessed me with several of my own Proverbs 31:28s. One was when a son wrote the following to my husband and me:

Dear Mom and Dad,
Just wanted to share something that, over the years, I’ve become more and more thankful for: being homeschooled. The more I learn about the failing of our public school system, the more grateful I become. Especially knowing what a great sacrifice it was for you to undertake. I know it must have been very difficult at times. I believe it was worth it.
Love you so much!

And another at a high school graduation, when a daughter wrote:

Dear Mom,
[…] “…there are so many things I admire and aspire to be like some day. Let’s start from the beginning. You homeschooled 6 kids. Wow! I have no idea how you did it but I can have the confidence to homeschool my own because of you […] Thank you for being an amazing example and making the transition from just mom to friend. Thank you for challenging me to grow in my relationship with Christ. …”                                    Love, …

So, this Mother’s Day, don’t allow THAT GAL and those terrifying verses in Proverbs 31 to ruin the day. Be confident that when you are faithful to the task God has called you to, He will (even with your own struggles and limitations) work in the lives of your children and someday, they will rise up and call you blessed!

About the Author: Brenda Kelly

Brenda Kelly joined the CHEC team in 1994 as a board and conference team member. In 2008 she also began working in the office. The Kelly’s formal homeschooling began in 1989 but the fruit of that decision now means working alongside their adult children in a variety of ministries and watching their grandchildren being discipled to know and love God.