Visiting my folks

I am posting this blog from my mother's home an hour away from our town. My 83yo father is in the hospital with various complications due to vascular disease and diabetes. It has been touch-and-go for over a week and we still are not out of the woods. He has serious complex wounds on his feet, fighting gangrene, and his i.v.'s keeping failing. My mother has been a real trooper, trying to dress his wounds herself at home, and now is running back and forth to the hospital to make sure he eats right, etc. She is a real inspiration. I hope I learn to be half as compassionate and caring as she is.
With Father's Day coming up, I decided I needed to honor my father and spend this week here to be available and help them in whatever little ways I can. We never know how many more days we have together. John is holding down the fort at home, finishing up the last week of homeschool with the kids. God Bless him.
At age 50, family life is coming at me from both directions, as it is for my sister. Motherhood seems to only grow in its job description with the passing of time. On my plate are such things as: 1. supporting my 18yo son's courtship and developing a relationship with my prospective daughter-in-love; 2. helping my 20yo daughter as she grows in motherhood and raises my grandson; 3. raising my three left at home, including homeschooling my 11yo son, training my 14yo daughter in homemaking skills, and helping my 16yo son venture into moneymaking and career-planning; 4. being a secretary, helpmeet and hostess to my husband's pastoral work; 5. care for aging grandparents. I must remind myself that all mothers have walked this road before me and managed famously. So I will stop patting myself on the back for how much I do. It's God plan for shaping and moulding us. And what a ride it is.

GOH: Guardian Of Home

This is making the email rounds, but addresses an issue I want to comment on. See my comments at the end.

"JUST A MOM?"

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 'S office, Was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. 'What I mean is, ' explained the recorder, 'do you have a job or are you just a ...?' 'Of course I have a j ob,' snapped the woman. 'I'm a Mom.' 'We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation,
'housewife' covers it,' Said the recorder emphatically. I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself In the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, Efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, 'Official Interrogator' or 'Town Registrar.' 'What is your occupation?' she probed. What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out. 'I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.' The clerk paused, ball- point pen frozen in midair and Looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, In bold, black ink on the official questionnaire. 'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest,'just what you do in your field?' Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, 'I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't) In the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) And already have four credits (all daughters). Of cou rse, the job is one of the most d emanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) And I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers And the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.' There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she Completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, Testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more Distinguished and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mom.' Motherhood! What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door. Does this make grandmothers 'Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations' And great grandmothers Executive Senior Research Associates?' I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts
Associate Research Assistants. May your troubles be less, Your blessing be more, And nothing but happiness come through your door!
We do need a new acronym for moms. I’m working on one myself. HBWW—Home-Based Wonder Woman? MASID—Mover and Shaker In Disguise? Or maybe a CRACKWR—Cradle-Rocking Agent of Change and World Ruler. As in “she who rocks the cradle rules the world”. But no, those are all too long.
The best one I’ve come up with so far is GOH—Guardian of Home. That’s what the original Greek in the Bible (Titus 2) means when it’s variously translated “keeper of the home”, “worker at home”, etc. It really means a guardian, just as a gatekeeper guards a gate and keeps threatening robbers and strangers away.
Our jobs as guardians have become increasingly complicated with the advent of internet and other gadgetry. Negative influences find their way in right under my nose. I get lazy sometimes and don’t filter everything I should. But I keep trying.
We also guard the tenor, tone, and ambience of our home. Is it full of sweet-smelling candles and conversation; are there signs of beauty on the walls, and music to bring out the best in us? Right now, my house is characterized more by clutter than care, but it does show that life is going on in our midst, that loving ,busy beings house this place.
Does anyone have some other ideas of new names for us homemakers/keepers?