Somebody sent me this picture yesterday night and I just saw it. You have no idea for how long I stared at this picture, specifically at the young mom.
I looked at her son who is peacefully breastfeeding sitting at her arm. He looks so comfy. If you zoom in the picture, you can see that something captured this young woman’s attention and I wondered what that was. Her youthfulness radiates her face without any foundation or finish-up silver shine make-up. Yeah, she is breastfeeding, riding the bike and carrying her little one, doing all these at the same time.
Staring at her, within a split second, million thoughts ran through my mind and I was lost in my dream.
I stared at her. Do I want to ask her, “Where is the father of this child?” Nah! That is nonsense! Do I need to assume anything about her? Nope! I don’t need to.
I just wanted to have a conversation with her. That is all!
So, I smiled at her so she would stop her bike and give me few minutes. She smiled back at me, probably thinking that she might have seen me before. So, I quickly said with a smile, “I am very proud of you for being here for your child,”
Trying to hide her true emotion, she smiled and replied, “Thank you.”
“God blessed you with a child. You know, many people, who don’t have a child, would love to be you.”
She chuckled and looked down to the ground as if to say, “You know, I have to be on my way. I have a long way to go. Don’t hold me back. I just stopped thinking that you might have needed help.”
So, I quickly said, “Hey, this season will pass away soon and you will be riding this bike by yourself or you may sit at the back while your son riding the bike for you.”
I was looking at her son, inviting her to join me in my dream.
All her face immediately turned dark and said, “My fate is to raise him, and let him fly away like a bird so he too can make another girl pregnant, relax and enjoy the rest of his life, sitting on a comfy chair all day long.”
I noticed her anger and frustration but I pretended as if I didn’t see any. Avoided looking directly at her eyes, smiling and looking at her son, I said, “Who said that this little son of yours have to follow that same path?”
She was about to start riding and, she put her left leg back to the ground and looked puzzled. I knew right away what she wanted to say.
“Did you hear what I asked you?” I calmly asked her and I locked my eyes with hers, staring directly at her eyes, as if to say, “I am not going to blink unless you give me an answer for my question!”
As if she was waking up from her slumber, she looked at her son who was sitting on her left arm and she looked at me and said, “What are you saying to me?”
“Good question!” I shouted but only to myself.
Then looking at her son, stroking his head and his back tenderly, I said, “Who has full right on this little child right now?”
“Me? Who else?” She answered and looked, not puzzled at this moment but, annoyed by my question and I wasn’t threatened by her annoyance because I knew where I was going with that.
Again avoiding her eyes, I continued asking her, “Who spends time with this handsome boy the whole day, 24/7?”
She giggled and with her left elbow she pushed her son up to help him sit comfortably, and she gave me that inquisitive look. At this time, I didn’t wait for her to reply.
“Yeah,” I said, trying to study her face, and continued, “Yes, you! You have him now for the whole day and night? Don’t you?” I paused for a second and continued, “Who is going to raise this young man? You! Who is going to teach him how to speak and behave? You, his mother! Who does have a time to teach this young man about life?” I paused and looked at her again and answered my own question, “Yes! You! Who is going to teach him how to be a responsible man who doesn’t run away from responsibilities? You!”
In the middle of my Q&A, from her face expressions I saw that she understood where I was going with that but she stopped me with a sigh and said, “But the men in the house will take him from me as soon as he starts walking.”
“But you will have a chance to see him for the most part of the day, am I right?” I asked.
Now she looked confused and asked, “Are you trying to tell me that I can raise this boy to be a different kind of man than his dad and all the other men in the neighborhood?”
I nodded my head quietly and for few seconds, we both said nothing. I wanted to give her few second to process the thought. And I continued, “But remember, you need to push him to go out and be with the guys so that he can learn how to fight and bring the bacon home but with the time you are going to have with him, invest on him how to understand you and women in general. Show him where he can help you and how he needs to care for women and children.”
As if she had heard this or entertained the idea before, her eyes welled up with tears and with sadness, she said, “But I get no benefit from that. Only will his wife and children, not me.”
I nodded my head again with agreement, knowing that she understood me completely.
I changed the tone of my voice and asked her, “Do you know God?”
She immediately said, “Yes. Without His help, I won’t be here. I was close to death when I had this child. I cried out to God and He let me live and see my son.”
“Good! Praise God! Well, guess what? Speak life into your son trusting God and His Word. Your son now may look like he is not listening to you but he does. Pray for him. Do you read the Bible?”
Now she wanted to cry but held back her tears and said, “I wish I could! But I can’t read. But one of my neighbors’ comes to my house so often and reads the Bible for me. She also helps me memorize many Bible verses such as, “Be still and know that I am God.” But I don’t know exactly where to find it in the Bible.”
I was about to explode with joy. I quickly hugged her together with her son. I smiled and wanted to jump up and down, praising God. I said, “Would you please pass on my kind regards to your neighbor! And please continue reading the Bible with her. In the meantime, let your son listen to the Word when your neighbor reads. Lay your hands on him and pray for him every day according to the word of God.”
We hugged and kissed! Then I said, “Young woman, listen to me carefully. This is what I am trying to say to you all along:
Change starts from you! It starts here! It starts from your son. Don’t see these moments God is giving you with your son lightly. Sacrifice your life not only for your son and grandchildren but also for the rest of human race. Die for yourself and live for your son. Don’t sit and mourn for your lack. Don’t gather with other girls and gossip about the men in your life. These men did what they had learned. And you, be willing to lay your life on the altar, to teach your son wisdom you are learning from the word God so he starts a different, bright and brand new path for the rest of the men to follow after. Then at the end of your life, this song will be sang for you:
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” (Proverbs 31:30-31) ///