The car had barely picked up speed as it left the school zone when its driver had to yield the right-of-way.  A young mother claimed the road crossing the street with her little ones scurrying behind her.

She stopped abruptly, her instincts sharp, her reactions primed.  The little ones bumped into themselves frantically looking to their mother.  She stepped backward assessing the situation, looking towards her destination then immediately to her little ones. She swivelled her hips, and side-stepped around the little ones.  Oblivious to the pending danger, the little ones ran in a circle bumping into each other again in their unsteadiness.  Then she seemed to gather her focus.  She pulled herself up to a commanding height and turned towards her original destination.  Like the lead dancer fixing a point on the stage, she led her little ones in a confident, decisive exit from the road.  The little ones hurried behind sensing the urgency of her actions.

At the same time the driver in the car ended his impromptu direction to the scene.  He had been motioning to the young mother, encouraging her with silent and friendly gestures while his face changed from pulling his brows together in concern to pulling his smile upwards in joy.

In the course of the crossing another car had stopped in the opposing lane of traffic.  That driver too had watched the young  mother and her little ones.  At the end of the crossing, both drivers looked towards each other, smiled and nodded.

The mother goose and her goslings scurried into the farmer’s field on the other side of the road. Like an audience that hopes for an encore, the drivers reluctantly began to leave.  They had witnessed one of life’s most priceless dances, a mother shepherding her children to safety.

What if the mother goose hadn’t followed her instincts to lead with confidence?  Her goslings might have bumped into each other and scurried away in different directions, lacking the necessary protection and guidance to survive.  They wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn to fly and become the goose they were meant to be.

Lord as Mother’s Day approaches, I pray in unison with mothers everywhere:

“Lord when the moments challenge us and we need to rise up in a confident, commanding manner give us the courage to guide our children as needed.   Lord, in the challenging moments we pray the prayer of David in Psalm 25:4-5 when he said, ‘Show me your ways, O lord, teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.’

As mothers we pray that we may show Your ways to our children.  Help us to fix a point in our minds and our hearts so that at whatever stage, at whatever point, we are guiding our children with confidence and helping them to continually find their safe crossings.