04.05.01 Introducing How to Become a Value-Adding Mother

Adding value to children is a ‘God-given’ assignment and one that must be taken seriously by any mother (and father). A parent officiates God here on earth, as a custodian of the children in his or her stead, be them biological or ‘spiritual’. We learn that from Psalm 68:6 which says (NKJV): ⁶God sets the solitary in families;…

Adding value as a mother refers to elevating, growing or uplifting your children’s ‘worth’, thereby nurturing a responsible, God-fearing and inspired generation that fulfills God’s purpose on earth. We see this in Proverbs 22:6 which talks about training up ‘a’ child. Notice that the instruction in that verse is to train up ‘a’ child, not only ‘your’ child. This underscores the fact that, as a ‘mother’, God expects you to add value to those children who live beyond the walls of your home, in addition to your biological offspring (if you have any). In fact, in most African communities, every child is your child. Interestingly, that tallies with Deborah’s perception in Judges 5:7, where she viewed herself as the mother of the world though she had no children of her own.

In this chapter, I share how I added value to my children. We also discuss how a biblical woman, Salome, ventured to add value to the profiles of her sons, James and John, who also happened to be Jesus’ disciples.