The Woman Behind the Sons of Thunder...

A while back, I watched a message online by Joe McGee at Church on the Move. He was the guest speaker for Mother's Day and spoke on the success of the Sons of Thunder- specifically, the spit-fire mama's that were behind the scenes. He then went on to describe some prominent men in our Christian heritage like John and Charles Wesley and the strong mamas that backed them up. What I found so refreshing was the way he described the mothers. Along with being mother's who made it their priority to teach their children the word of God, they were also 'mama don't play dat' kind of moms.

When I found out my firstborn was going to be a boy- I'm not gonna lie, I was bummed out! But that's because I had all of these preconceived notions as to what kind of mother I was going to have to be. Not to mention, I was baffled as to what I was going to do with a boy. I had been the captain of the cheerleading squad, but rarely knew what was 'really' going on at any given game. My parents gave me a set of tools for Christmas before college and I asked if they meant to give them to Brad, my older brother. I was just all girl. I like pink. I get my toes done. I get my hair done. I like being a girl! And I always thought I would have girls to dress up and make tutus and bows for.

I had these extremes in my head that I feared... like becoming the mom who is overtaken by her buck-wild-boys and finds herself tied up in a booby trap somewhere. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum- the mom who loses herself to her boys and gives up all things girly to make sandwiches all day long. But it was my dad who wrote me a letter after the ultrasound that cleared up my thinking. He said it would be up to me what kind of mom I would be. That it was my story to write. It wasn't long after that I saw an Oprah episode where four African American brothers stood up- all lawyers. And when Oprah asked how they got to where they were, they all looked back and their beautiful mama stood up. She had raised them alone and the audience cheered. The men described how she taught them about God's word, pushed them to do well in school and none of them got out of line too much cause Mama didn't play dat! I couldn't help but look at that mom and think- 'You go Miss thing!' And they ADORED her.

I knew that was the kind of mama I wanted to be. But more importantly, that was the mom God had created me to be. To my surprise, 3 boys later... I do really well with boys. I still don't know very much about sports. But, I do know A LOT about being their cheerleader. I decided to always remain girly despite all of the men in this household. It takes a backbone to be the only female among all boys and remain female! But, I intend to set the bar high for any little Missy that comes into their life. I consider it part of my job description to teach them the word of God in a fun and relevant way. And I decided to use the spit-fire in me to show them- don't be crossin' your mama! We are very close and I purpose to keep it that way.

When I think about the Sons of Thunder described in Mark 3, I think about the mama that backed them up. Lightning always comes before thunder.... I want to be the lightning that cracks before their thunder.