The Heart of a Woman

August 7, 2010
Obviously right now I am acting as mother of all 6 of mine and Duane’s or I would have been able to finish my chapter five days ago when I started. In those five days what I have learned and would like to share is that as women we are here on this earth with an amazing gift; the gift of the feminine heart. This gift is the gift of unconditional love, tenderness, beauty and the ability to mother; to nurture. Therefore, as women, whether or not we are actually mothers we find ourselves mothering daily to all who are in need of mothering; there are no limits. It may be a lost soul at your office that you go for coffee with and try to help heal the wounds of a recent divorce. Or you might be a teacher who goes to her classroom of students each day to not only teach math and science, but to also offer words of praise for a job well done, comfort for a child who is distressing over a disagreement at home or on the playground. You could be an employer who is able to offer someone a chance in life and encouragement for them to strive to meet their full potential by simply believing in her. Or you might be caring for your children or someone else’s child for the day which may involve bandaging a scraped knee, making lunch or teaching them how to play a new game of cards.
This is the unique gift that has been given to us by God. In the book Captivating, Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul by John and Stasi Eldredge, they write of the importance of a woman’s heart and the beauty that it holds. A beauty that is unique only to women.
Think about it: God created you as a woman. “God created man in his own image...male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). Whatever it means to bear God’s image you do so as a woman. Female. That’s how and where you bear his image. Your feminine heart has been created with the greatest of all possible dignities—as a reflection of God’s own heart. You are a woman to your soul, to the very core of your being. And so the journey to discover what God meant when he created woman in his own image—when he created you as his woman—that journey begins with your heart. (PAGE 8 CAPTIVATING)
Gavin De Becker, author of Protecting the Gift, Keeping Children Safe and Parents Sane, offers parents suggestions on how to teach your children to grow up safe. I found it extremely interesting how one of the leading experts in the field of safety and survival as well as a former FBI agent tells kids that if they are lost in a mall to go to a WOMAN, preferably a woman with children. I did have to laugh because the first thing I thought was yes, if a woman already has four children, the last thing she wants is to leave the mall with one more crying child and she really would be the last candidate to be a child abductor. But in De Becker’s more professional view of the situation he sees the safest place is a nurturing heart, a mother, one who will most likely take a lost child to information and not leave that child until he is reunited with his lost parent.
I have always believed that anything a man can do a woman can do better, but the truth is, sometimes women don’t want to do everything a man can do, we want to do what a woman can do. This is because we were made woman, not man, with the distinct heart and body of a woman; who is also created in God’s image; an image of love, softness, strength, loyalty and most alluring beauty. There is nothing more compelling or rewarding to a child than to know his or her mother is behind her, believes in him and is proud of all that she does.
“I will always be a mother of three, I have three children”, were the words I repeated over and over in the hospital the night they told me Marina passed away. No one can take away the fact that I am and always will be Marina’s mother and what that means in my heart. But I do feel that each day, depending on what God has given me that day, whomever I am in contact with and how many children are in my care, even for just that day, in my heart I am mother to many.

Single Mother of 3?

August 2, 1010
Mother of...3, or is it 2, 7 or 6? It can be difficult to define yourself as a mother when you aren’t really sure how many children you actually have.

I am Woman

July 22, 2010
I decide to take a load of leftover sod to the landfill from the landscapers who were here fixing up my curb finally from the addition that we had put on the house for Marina while she was still alive. She barely had time to fully enjoy her new room before she died, but all the same it was nice to have her close to us all day when she had to be confined to her room on bad days. The curb alone cost too much money, I was not willing to pay another $200.00 just to have grass taken to the dump. The man at the gate charged me only $12.00 to discard. I guess you could also include $30.00 more for the blanket I ended up throwing in the bin because of my reluctance to pick off the spider, beetle, and millipede that were left behind under the dirt. Still I figured it beat the price the landscapers were charging. I did, though, receive a marriage proposal from a man working at the landfill who watched me pull up alone in my white Escalade full to the brim with dirt and grass, backed into spot number four and with no gloves on proceeded to lift the heavy mess and toss it into the bin. Yes, I am woman. Yes, I am not only Canadian, but a Calgary single mother of 3.