Mothering!

Right. So this week, I have been told to stop Mothering someone, and by another, that I should START Mothering them! What's with that! In both cases though, I really didn't want to be doing anything close to Mothering these people, and yes, in one case I was, where I shouldn't have been, and in the other I said no... One mother and one father in any family tends to be quite enough, otherwise it just get's confusing!

Anyway, the 2 episodes together got me thinking about the concept of mothering- as in: Stop Mothering me! and what we mean by that. I guess, when we are saying that, we are really saying something along the lines, that someone has overstepped the boundaries between themselves. They are trying to take on responsibilities and tasks that are not theirs to do. We are depriving that other person of an experience, or opportunity to see how well they will do in a situation. We are depriving them their space, opportunities for them to stretch out, find their space, and their limits or boundaries. We aren't allowing that person the opportunity to grow.

I realised too, how easy it is to try and take things into my own hands, with people, and with God. It's so much easier, when we know what to do, to step in, or make the comment, do the job, or whatever it is. In thinking about it in terms of my relationship with God, again, it's so easy to try and make things happen, to pre-empt the steps ahead, or try and take onto ourselves things that are not ours to be responsible for. It's a very fine line, as we are called to serve, love and care for others, yet we do need to do so with open hands, and in listening to God, and praying about different things, we need to allow God to make the way ahead clear, so we can see HIM at work and not us, and what we want to have happen, to see his way made clear, and his Glory revealed! Much more fun!

It's a fine line and balance between one and the other though...