Walking Therein

Mothers and Daughters: A Sweet Relationship

There are many things the relationship between mother and daughter can be. The world gives us a different attitude about motherhood than the Word does. The world's view is of one that is not really much of a relationship and totally without a Godly influence. It is seen as something that is only by means of blood-relations or selfishness, getting what you can get from the relationship. It is not of two loving hearts bound together working toward a common goal in the Lord.

On the other hand, the mother-daughter relationship the Word gives is very different. It can be that uncommon relationship of God's love, like the love Ruth showed to Naomi, her mother-in-law. A love that walks miles with the other, loving, denying one's self, lifting up in words and in prayer, working and providing for if necessary.

Most of us have relationships as mothers and daughters somewhere in -between those two types of relationships. A completely giving relationship is a rare find. Some of us have the lesser one. I believe mine with my mother was good until I started to care what the world had to offer me. I did not grow up in a Christian home, but my mother is one of the biggest Givers I know. She was easy to love. She cared about us and our lives. She put herself and her love into my life, and I returned it for awhile. Then I 'grew up', so I thought. I didn't need my mom as a daughter, in my own immature eyes. I turned to friends and listened to what they thought was best for me. They were wrong. I needed my mother, not their influences.

A Godly loving relationship as mother and daughter carries a sweetness that is uncommon in the world we live in. It is not a selfish relationship. It is out of a heart of love. A love for our daughters, a daughter's love for her mother, and a love for the Lord. The blessings we reap from such a relationship are so numerous, it would be hard to list them all. Even when there is conflict, when God is in it, His love comes through. Such a sweet relationship allows us to pray for our daughters and their futures according to what God may have for them.

I am so blessed to have five beautiful daughters. I remember when my oldest, who is now eighteen, was a little girl. What she doesn't realize is that she will always be my little girl. And now, as a young lady, she is my friend and confidante too. The sweetness of childhood is not gone, but changed. It is still there, but in a different measure. A measure she can experience as an eighteen-year-old daughter while seeing a different measure with her eight-year-old sister. Or her ten-month-old sister.

Our relationships will change as time passes. They will change as life changes. They will change as we each grow in the Lord. One of the loveliest things about a relationship between a mother and a daughter is that growing. The relationship will change, but the sweetness will remain, if we walk in love. It will be a bittersweet love at times, when things don't go as we think they should, but if it is rooted in God's love, it will always return to its sweetness.

Ephesians 5:2 tells us to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."

As mothers and daughters, we can always be a sweet-smelling savour to our Lord. We can be that as mothers. We can be that as daughters. We can be that together. When we do that, walking in love, we will also be a sweetness to each other in our mother-daughter relationships.

Blessings!

Mothers and Daughters, how sweet that can be

6:11 PM, Thursday, April 10, 2008 .. Posted by Robinlyn

It was such a treat to meet you and your family and get to see Luli celebrate her very first birthday. After reading this post I was reminded of what a special blessing it is to be able to homeschool our children and the relationship that we can have together. The time and love that you put into your family shows by their kind and gentle ways with each other. What a blessing to get to witness that. Thank you again, too, for your hospitality.