​

Family Friday Newsletter - 3 min read by: Finley Robinson

​

A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead

Lasting Ideals My Mother Embraced

Moms naturally have the gift of belief in their kids.

• They see the good and overlook the bad.
• They go to endless lengths to be supportive.
• They possess a relentless love for their children.

But they also have something that goes unspoken or unrecognized. They have their own story and values that shape the daily lives of their kids.

You cannot ignore the volume of hours that moms spend with their children over the years.

Like a great book that took an extended time to write, moms are slowly building into their kids a set of beliefs simply because they hold the title of Mom.

I'm sure you could sit down and in a few short minutes, put together a list of values your mom embodied to you. It is easy to overlook it, but you are doing the same for your kids.

Mom moments are not flashy or built on some viral concept. It's in the everyday rhythm that you are impacting your kids.

So, as proof and evidence of this, I wanted to share about my mom. (I think she was the first person who signed up for this newsletter when I started.)

These are 7 of the many ideals that my mom embodied and reinforced year after year. It's not meant for comparison, as if what you bring as a mom to your family is 'less than' in some way.

My hope is that a mom in the power-decade may realize that what she brings most often goes unnoticed and unrecognized... but she carries on.

1. Do Hard Things

"Go the extra mile, son.
You shouldn't take the easy way out.
I know you'll be glad you made that choice one day."

She didn't just push this on her kids. She believed it was the way for the growth of her family.

2. Turn The Other Cheek

How do you respond when someone has wronged you? She would quote Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." (Matthew 5:38-39)

3. Loving Your Siblings Is A Choice

Family is hard, full stop.

Loving your siblings is hard, whether you're living in the same house as kids or several states away as adults. It takes work, but she made and modeled the choice for her kids for years.

4. Respect Your Dad

She pulled my sister and me aside and spoke well about our dad.
She didn't always agree, but she trusted his decisions.
She required that her kids respect their father.

5. It's Never Too Late To Start

She found her "life's calling" at age 40. She loved teaching the Bible to women and did so faithfully for 25 years.

She uncovered her latent gifting at a time when many of her peers were pursuing an easier path. She started down a road that would define her at age 40.

6. Care For The Forgotten

People who had slipped in between the cracks in our town found a champion in my mom.

Every month for a couple of decades, she visited an elderly lady who lived by herself. She stopped to talk to a complete stranger crying in Panera one day and became a lifeline for her for years.

7. Live Without Regrets

In my family, we joke that my dad loved to make money and my mom loved to spend his money. But the truth is, she spent it on the things she loved and what would last.

Vacations with the family.
Trips to the orphanage in Africa.
Gifts to every shower she was invited to.

Keep On Believing

As Mother's Day approaches, I beg moms in the power-decade ... don't lose your belief. A mom's lasting value and voice in the lives of her kids is enduring.

To the Mom I would say ... you are building more into your kids than you'll ever realize. The young kids in your home will hold and embody so much of the good that you model and provide one day.

To the Dad I would say ... support the moms in your children's lives. When belief is in short supply, remind her how valuable she is to your kids.

Have a great weekend.
Finley