“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.” (Proverbs 31:30-31, NKJV)

As Mother’s Day approached, I was busily tending flower beds and lawn on Thursday, watching newly planted tomatoes and peppers gain strength while green onions emerged from the brown earth. Growing things is what many women do best; tomatoes, love and faith to name a few. My mind was spinning a blog post in honor of all the fascinating moms and their accomplishments, especially the tiny important ones like mastering french braids and gluten free recipes, delivering Girl Scout cookies, baiting fishing hooks, reading for the hundredth time a Little Golden Book and teaching little hands to fold in prayer. (Planting the important things.)

Before I could get to the blogging, tragedy struck the lives of some beautiful mothers I know, and my eagerness was deflated by sorrow and pain for them and their families. As I do so often, I began to name the many women who have had to say goodbye for now to a son or daughter, too soon. My prayers are for these amazing women to be carried when their strength fails in their time of grief; that all the love and creativity they have shown to others will be gathered in manifold volumes and returned to encourage, strengthen and assure them of their great value, and ability to survive. They are strong women, and my Lord is even stronger than all our strengths. Their courage began to nudge me, as I thought of them, to go on with a Mother’s Day message, reminding all women with or without children, how you inspire, create and nourish the earth every single day.

I thought of all the new plants I have growing in my yard all because of a friend, a mom herself, who loves to grow things. I have a little holly I call Dana Holly, because Dana Bazzell discovered it growing where it would not have survived, transplanted it and gave it to me. I also have a Dana pine, a Dana beauty berry, and a Dana buckeye, all for the same reason. Yes, men can do this too if they have a green thumb, but not while they tend to their spouses, children, homes, careers and church activities – with time left for travel, Facebook and cats. Actually, I can’t think of a single woman who isn’t a ‘mom’ to something – dog moms, cat moms, flower moms, all growing beautiful living things and loving the productivity of their hearts and hands. Teachers who create thinkers; writers who produce trips for our imaginations; artists who decorate our world; musicians who put the beat in our hearts and seamstresses who can take a flat piece of cloth and create a girl’s fanciest dream, are all moms of life.

I thank God daily that I get to be Chad’s and Stephanie’s mother. I thank God also for the incredibly strong mother I was blessed to call Mama, and for the women who influenced her, one of whom was my great aunt, Bertie Wilkins Frisby. She was a registered nurse who had no children of her own, but instilled in others a respect for education, faith and family. Knowing she was a nurse, who had lived with Type I diabetes, and had cared for an elderly relative even as her own sight was failing, I felt her influence reaching me as well. We can all recall those pillars of our communities, the sources of strength and wisdom who planted in us a will to keep on keeping on, even when – and maybe especially when – the rose petals fall too soon.

God bless you, my sisters of womanhood, as you plant, water and feed. May God give you the increase you desire. Blessed Mothers’ Day to you. Trisha

In memory of Betty L. Jackson