May is a wonderful month because it is when Mother’s Day is celebrated.  I have utmost respect for my mother any time of the year, and always strive to honor her.  However, during this month of May, I want to reflect on how she taught me the virtues of being a godly woman and mother.  As Proverbs 31:26 says, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness”.  This verse evokes warm thoughts of her.  Mom is wise, sweet, loving and it shows in how she interacts with others.  My brothers and I grew up knowing the instructions she gave us were true, that showed her strength and wisdom.  My entire life, I have always felt comfortable being able to talk to her with just about anything and everything.  Her great affection and willingness to be helpful are character traits I desire to emulate.  In fact, I almost think I’d be blessed if I could be “half” the woman my mother is! I am the mother of three young children, two of them twins, and have a fourth child on the way.  We are an unique family in that we are several generations of Deaf women; I am the fourth in line, and my children are the next with this trait.  This has no impact on my ability to raise my children, and it did not impact my mother either, nor my grandmother or her mother before them.  Truly, we may be Deaf, but we have complete access to our Lord, and He gives us what we need to lean on as mothers through Scripture and the guidance of other women in the same role.  God speaks directly to our hearts!  I absolutely depend on God and His Word as the supreme authority for how I should raise my children, and the way my mother raised us is a living example of that truth.  I want to be able to say, “I have no greater joy than to [see] that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 4).    Moreover, our status as Deaf mothers four generations through are strongly influenced by cultural practices that attune us to our babies’ needs and signals, and while auditory cues are not heard, they are seen with our attentive, caring eyes and felt with our concerned, loving hearts.  Smiles are universal, as is touch and interacting with a baby; communication, through God’s all- knowing and omnipotent creation, is special for Deaf mothers and babies.  There is no barrier with God through His great design for motherhood, in any language, spoken or signed.  As a parent, does God not always provide for and prepare His children in the ways only He could think best? Give Him all the glory! Psalm 137:14 says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Again, because of my mother’s devotion to her children and obedience to God, I will strive to ensure that I raise up my children for God and the ways Scripture teaches us to prepare our children for the Kingdom, beginning with looking to the Lord for truth and demonstrating obedience to our parents. Matthew 5:8 teaches, Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  When we open our hearts, God speaks directly there, and we can then see what He wants with us.  My children are individuals with characteristics unique to each of them (even my twins!), as is the way I interact with each of them.  Are we not precisely known and made thoughtfully, by the Supreme God of the universe, specially knitted together into His image long before we arrive? “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee…” (Jeremiah 1:5a,b) May mothers feel the incredible gift of God’s purpose for us today.  I know the influence of my mother has been valuable for the work I do as a mother, and I thank God earnestly for her!