Book Club Thursday | Mama Made the Difference

Mamas Teach Us to Celebrate Others

Let's face it.   Women have a stigma of being catty, jealous of each other, and comparing themselves to others.

When I was little (1st grade), there was a girl in my class named Alicia (I wasn't homeschooled until I was in 6th grade).  She had Shirley Temple like curls.  As a 1st grader with thick, long, straight-because-it-was-so-heavy hair, I wished I could have curls like Alicia.  Mom would tell me that God gave me the hair that was right for me, but that didn't help my 6 year old mind stop thinking about curls.  A couple of times, Mom even sat in the kitchen, took brown paper bags cut into strips, and would set my hair so that I would have banana curls.  Why would she give in to my vanity you ask?  Because she was wise enough to know that those banana curls would not satisfy me. When I would go to school the next day, banana curls and all, I would be faced with the reality that my curls would be gone by the next day and Alicia's would still be there.  God and Mom used this opportunity to teach me to celebrate the gifts that God has given others.

As women, curls are the least of our comparisons.  We look at and compare marriages, children, homes, furniture, social standings, family dynamics, income, finances, figures, and complexions (to name a few).  One of the comments (and I am paraphrasing) that I love from Joyce Meyer (who Addie has begun calling "Joyce Joyce") is, "You want to be where I am and have what I have, but you don't want to go through what I had to to get here." 

One verse that Mom used to quote to us a lot when we were growing up was, "They comparing themselves among themselves are not wise."  When we compare where we are, what we have, or who we are with others, we cannot celebrate those around us and the gifts that God is blessing them with.

When we are able to truly celebrate others, I believe that God will bless us in ways we never imagined. Our heart attitude towards the blessings that God gives others is a indicator of our readiness to receive blessings from Him.   

Let's celebrate others!