Mother Dearest
A Narrative On One Of My Biggest Champions
Conversations With My Mother
Is everything alright Pauly? You seem awfully quiet. Cheer up Pauly. It’ll get better. Umma
I’m doing ok mummy. Life is a struggle at times.
Mom follows up a few days later.
Are you alright Pauly?
I’m not feeling too good mummy. Some days tire me out. I can’t figure out what’s wrong. I feel really lost.
Shall I pray for you Pauly?
I’d like that mummyma
I feel God’s given my mom a sixth sense. Code red, code red, Pauly’s feeling low. Dear daughter, please check in on your son.
Has anyone felt this about their mother? I can’t rationalize how my mother can sense my pain when she’s 7,000 miles away. Unless of course, a supernatural entity gives her nudges 👀.
Observations About My Mother
My mother is typically the quietest person in the room. She enjoys quality time, loves having deep conversations and is an avid listener of my lengthy rants. She enjoys spending time in prayer; her morning prayer time is precious to her.
I’ve always wondered how she hears from God. Maybe that’s a component of being quiet. I’ve heard people ask why God doesn’t speak to them. Is God quiet, or are we too loud to listen to His voice? God is love. So, by definition, He wants to commune and spend time with us. The question is, will we give Him time?
My Mother’s Walk Of Faith
My mother waits on God on every ask. I wasn’t proficient in academics at a young age. My mother put the matter in prayer. God told her, “Just leave him to me”. It took another seven years for my grades to improve. My mother patiently waited, holding on to God’s promise. Imagine if my mother wasn’t as patient 👀.
I had a skin condition growing up. It was tough walking around with rashes on my body. I wanted to feel normal. The constant itching caused the rashes to burst. The puss overflowed, and so did tears from my face. I hated my condition. I wanted a flawless skin tone like those around me.
My mother heard my rants, and comforted me time and again. She took me for every possible treatment, kept holding me in prayer and one fine day God healed my skin. It just got better all of a sudden. I still have no idea how it happened.
God kept honoring my mother’s faith. I was merely a recipient of the fruit of her faithfulness. I call her mother dearest for a reason; she holds me dear through every storm.
My Mother’s Humility
I once got into an argument with my mom. As we talked through it, I gave her the following feedback.
“Mummy, it’s hard for me to receive every feedback from you as is. Please don’t take this as disrespect. The only person who can ask that of me without question, is God. Let’s change the process flow a bit. If you see an issue with what I’m doing, call it out once and then hold it in prayer. If you’re right, God will educate me of the same during my prayer time. If you’re wrong, He will give you the grace to move on. Can we align on this approach?”.
My mother decided to give it a go. She noticed a higher compliance rate with the new approach. It wasn’t that my mother was wrong. It’s easier for me to hear things from God. There’s a gentleness about Him that no one else can match. Imagine my mothers humility to even comply with my request.
Nudges From My Mother
My mother once asked me, “What do you want in a woman Pauly?”. Enter shallow Paul, “I want a woman who’s hot”. It’s hurtful for a mother to hear such a response. So what did my mother do? She held it in prayer.
A few months later, my mother asked me the same question. Around this time, I developed an interest in hiking. I responded, “I want a woman who loves to hike, enjoys working out and traveling”. My mother stayed quiet and never passed a comment. She just listened. It wasn’t the greatest answer, but I guess I was making progress?
Shortly after, I developed a disinterest in marriage after observing the relationships around me. The rosy marriages live in the movies. The grind in real life made me lose my appetite for marriage.
After hearing my negative comments on marriage, my mother asked, “Why don’t you ask God about His take on marriage?”. It was a fair callout. My data points were just my feelings and the actions of these around me. So, I started querying God about marriage. My problem statement was simple; Is marriage good? The conversation was entertaining for me.
God: Who created Adam and Eve Pauly?
Me: You did
God: And what did they have Pauly?
Me: A relationship or rather a marriage
God: So who instituted the first marriage?
Me: You did
God: Am I good Pauly?
Me: Of course!
God: So, is marriage good?
I burst out into laughter. In a matter of seconds, God changed my perspective about marriage. The institution of marriage is good not because of the individuals partaking in it, rather, because God instituted it. Since that day I stopped speaking ill of it. My mother figured out how to get through to me. Just punt me to God!
A few months later, my mother asked me the same question. This time my response was pleasing to her. “I want to be with a woman who knows the Lord”. My rationale was quite simple. God created me, He knows the ins and out of my design. If I give Him my heart, He’ll take care of my desires; the emotional, physical, sensual, add in all your al’s.
My Mother Has My Back
When I went though a heartbreak in 2021, my mother flew down to be with me. We’d sit and chat over tea or coffee. Some conversations would go on for one to two hours. My mother has a wealth of knowledge about faith, relationships, human emotions and family intricacies; she’s great at problem solving the abstract things in life. If you give her time, you’ll see the wisdom flow.
Around that time I saw my first vision and I couldn’t make sense of it. I started engineering the explanation for the vision :). My mother noticed me struggling and nudged me in the right direction; it opened my eyes. I love what she said right after, “My job is done. Now spend time with the Lord”. I find that cool. She can sense the Big Guy’s pulse.
My mother has seen my positives, the hurtful negatives and watched me come out of those negatives; her prayers and faith propelled me forward. Children are a gift but they’re also a responsibility; my mother didn’t take the responsibility lightly.
Thank you for showing me what it takes to be a good parent mummyma. The Big Guy will always be the best parent, but among humans, no two people come close to Pappa and you. Thank you for loving me through every season. Lots of love-Pauly
I enjoyed reading this refreshing poem by Leah Lynch
