Minutes with the Master (eBook)

Devotional 8 ~
A Mother’s Protection…

My mother is indescribable to me and one of a kind. I am sure we all feel this way about our mothers, but mine helps me to know I am God’s favorite. God has given me a mother who loves me as He does. I realized it after I built a personal relationship with God.

I would study His word and truly understand how unconditional His love is. It is not based on anything about us. God chose to love us, and nothing can change His love for us. My mother made the same choice with her children.

I have the fondest memories of my mother as a girl – while some we shared together were not as pleasant – certainly not because of her, but because of the family trauma we endured together. All I know is I admired her greatly.

Despite my father’s shortcomings, my maternal granddaddy, paternal grandmother, and my mother made all the difference in my life by letting me know I was loved. My siblings were pretty darn special too, and always loved and favored me no matter what. Above all, my mother was beautiful, and I trusted her fashion preferences that would hopefully turn me into the type of regal beauty she was.

Also, she was a strong individual and always stood firm as my staunch supporter. I held on to her in our most challenging times to survive the storms with her – and it worked out. She was intelligent and perceptive, inspiring me to win at life and relationships like she did.

She was domesticated and a disciplinarian with the most feminine touches, making everyone appreciate her home. I worked alongside her to keep our home fresh and anointed for every visitor. I worked hard to be her favorite child and gain her approval. She was a protector and provider in every way her children needed her to be. Therein lies the rub.

My mother protected me and provided for me on every front. When teachers or others in authority treated me unfairly, she was there to right their wrongs. I remember being put out of school one day; I arrived early for my high school choir rehearsal. We were not to enter the building before a certain time, but I was there and was determined to enter before the others. The coach in charge of entrance that morning asked me to stop and turn around as I continued to glide down the hallway in a privileged manner on my way to rehearsal.

Although I am sure I told him where I was going, he insisted I stop, turn around, and wait with the others for the school bell, I suppose. I did not. I continued. As a result, he had me removed from the rehearsal room and suspended from school. He even told me I had to leave the school property without allowing me to call my mother to come for me. I walked to the corner store and called her from there.

I told her I had been wrongly expelled from the school and put off the property. I am not sure how she got there, but in minutes, she and I were back in the school, and boy, did everyone know it.

You could hear the students whispering as we walked by, “Here comes Mrs. Faulkner.” We went to the principal’s office, and my mother demanded a meeting with the principal and coach.

I do not remember all that ensued, but by the end of the meeting, the coach was standing with his arms in the air as a sign of surrender and rescinding the suspension. He said, “I give up. Let her do what she wants.”

My mother delivered the same spirit and fought at every turn for each of her children. While I am sure I should have turned around when the coach asked me to, my mother always fought against the greater injustice.

I understand I was wrong, but he should not have thrown me out of school without letting me call home. I was never far from my mother’s protection. However, as life continued to unfold for me, her protection seemed to get misplaced and maligned as I entered adulthood.

I will never forget a rude awakening a college professor gave me when he and I debated about a grade I received or something I felt was not fair, but believe it or not, I told the college professor I was going to tell my mother about it. He looked at me, and on the brink of laughter with a chuckle, he said, “Miss Faulkner, don’t humor me. You’re an adult now.”

Wow. Who knew?

After growing up so close to a loving, doting mother, who I am sure allowed me to be sometimes overindulgent, it was hard for me to start the transition. She bailed me out if I found myself in debt over my head. If a boyfriend did me wrong, she sided with my tirades against him. If I had problems on the job, she was there.

My first job in television was as an on-air operator. I had the overnight shift. But the station did not have security. My mother spent a lot of those nights asleep behind me on the floor on a pallet, while I continued to work, because she could not stand the idea of me working in the station alone.

Quite the contrary, I was never alone in a lot of ways. I grew up with a mother others wish for. I realize that, and I am eternally grateful. God gave me great balance with my parents. Neither was perfect, nor was I, but as a child, I needed my mother. She was always there for me. Maybe not physically in the moment because she had to provide for us, but I knew if I needed her, all I had to do was call. I can never repay her, and I decided to give up trying some time ago and just be her daughter. But as I came to know God, I realized my mother could no longer be my God.

As a young woman, I made a somewhat bad career move that did not work out after leaving a role, and so I had to work in a few other jobs to make ends meet. I ended up working part-time as an assistant professor at a junior college and moved back home for a while.

During that time, I also grew closer to God. I remember my friends saying, “Lisa has turned over a new leaf.” I’m not really sure what they meant, but I certainly left some things behind for my relationship with God.

I wanted to know Him better and be the woman He created me to be. I could not rely on my mother to cover for me. A dear friend offered me an opportunity to move to Atlanta and work for her until I found an option to work in my career field. So, I took the opportunity. That began my career and life in Georgia.

Believe it or not, my mother never held me back. You would think she wants full control as much as she gives, but it is almost the opposite. My mother always allowed me to do just about whatever I wanted within reason as long as it made me happy.

When I decided to take the opportunity in Atlanta, my oldest brother was unhappy to see me leave. You see, I had become a bit of a matriarch as well. Remember, this chapter started with all the ways I wanted to become my mother. I believe I succeeded to a large degree. Therefore, the family was losing a heavy. But my mother did not stand in my way. For me, it was an opportunity to let God be God in my life.

And so, it was. My mother was still always near with any help I needed and vice versa. As written about in other devotionals, a niece and then a nephew came to live with me because I knew it would relieve my mother. Mother lived with us for some time as well.

But in all the more than 20 years in Atlanta, God allowed me to face some challenges only He could get me out of. He allowed me to understand life and love in a way only He could teach me. He protected me in ways not even my mother could.

God led me to purchase the only house built at the time on the street I lived on. My sister also lived with my nephew and me. They had gone home to Birmingham during the weekend when I was home alone.

I felt the reality of being in the lone house on the street for the first time. I was afraid. I walked the floors, checked the doors, looked out the windows, and prayed. When I was done praying, I was frustrated and remembered saying, “Why didn’t I move to the first street with neighbors and more houses?!”

Then, when I turned in the bed to reckon with the thought, God gently said to me, “What difference would it have made? You would have prayed to the same God if you were there too. What protection is it you think I cannot provide to you here I would provide to you there?”

I went to sleep. Because “indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). And He kept me safe in that home from that day until the day I sold the home. Many more neighbors eventually came and went, but His loving protection never left me.

So, I ask you – what is it you think God cannot do for you? What protection do you need if a mother or father cannot provide for you? Has a loved one forsaken you? Were you thrown out? God is ever-present to preserve you and keep you safe from harm if you would only trust Him. What situation has gotten the best of you? It is not bigger than God. He is the situation maker. Maybe you know a mother’s protection as I do. It is one of life’s greatest gifts! But to know the ultimate Protector is life itself.

Devotional 8 of Minutes of the Master is here to remind you of God’s love and adoration for us and the fact He loves us more than our parents. We do not need to feel alone or lonely in this whole wide world, but think of how God showers His blessings on us and keeps us safe. He knows what is in our hearts and...