A year ago, many Americans became familiar with the name, Toya Graham. She was the mother that caught her 16-year-old son participating in the riots in Baltimore. Earlier that day, she had ordered him to go straight home after school, thus avoiding the dangerous rioting. Ignoring her, he accompanied a group of friends to harass police officers that were trying to maintain control in the area. His mother, suspecting that he might defy her orders, went to same area, searching for him.
Local media recorded the scene as this courageous mother spotted, confronted, slapped and pursued her son as he attempted to run away. She chased and hounded him until he finally submitted to her demands to go home.
Following this episode, many criticized the mother’s lack of restraint when she repeatedly slapped her wayward son. I, however, applauded her courage. After all, how many mothers (or fathers) would risk entering a hazardous riot area in order to locate and confront a foolish teenager? Even though her methods may have appeared extreme, no one questioned her genuine concern for her son. As countless people observed following the incident, "If Baltimore had a hundred more mothers like Toya, there would have been little or no rioting to begin with.”
Being a courageous mother is not easy. Being a courageous CHRISTIAN mother is even more challenging. There has likely never been a time in which Satan has had a greater assortment of weapons to tempt young people. Quick access to 10 million+ porn sites, suggestive music, provocative videos, cheap drugs and alcohol, worldly peers and secular schools all conspire to destroy the morals of Christian teens. Without courageous mothers – and fathers – our young people don't stand a chance.
Abraham Lincoln once said, "I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” He also said, "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be I owe to her.”
May God grant our mothers sufficient wisdom to direct our children, and the courage to confront and correct them when needed.
“…when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice…” [2 Tim. 1:5]
Jesus, always Jesus!
Dennis