Voices of the Family | Family Talk

Why A Mother's Influence Can't Be Overstated

Written by Dr. James Dobson | April 29, 2016


"Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers". James 1:16 

Many women feel that the job of "mom" is boring and monotonous—and they are right! But so is practically every other occupation.

I once stayed in a hotel next to the room of a famous cellist. I could hear him through the walls (believe me!) as he practiced hour after hour. He did not play beautiful symphonic renditions; he repeated scales over and over. As the cellist strolled onstage that evening, I'm sure many in the audience thought, "What a glamorous life!" Some glamour. He spent the entire day alone in his hotel room.

Few of us enjoy heart-thumping excitement each moment of our professional lives. How thrilling is the work of a medical pathologist who examines bacterial cultures from morning until night or a dentist who spends his days drilling and filling? The job of a homemaker can be about as boring as most others. Yet in terms of significance, no job can compete with a mother's task of shaping and molding a human being in the morning of life (though humanists would have us believe otherwise).

Not every woman chooses to be a mother, of course, but those who do are worthy of our admiration and respect. "Children," we are told in Scripture, "are a blessing" (Psalm 37:26, TLB). If so, then mothers are His loving gift to them.

From Dr. and Mrs. Dobson's book Night Light for Parents.