For My Virtuous Daughters

By:  Mia L. Hazlett

1/5/13

As I line up our year of abundance, I must stay focused on the non-material.  There is nothing more important to me than raising you both to be and become God-fearing virtuous women.  We have become a remarkably resilient and close family over the past three years.  Within these past years, I’ve done my best to raise you both to put God and our family first.  But the most important job I have in my life is to teach you how to respect yourselves.

How?  How do I ensure you have an uncompromised respect when you are older?  It lead me to two passages in the Bible, Proverbs 22:6 and 31:10-31.  You see with 22:6, it is a promise.  God has promised me that as long as I raise you both up right, then even when you are older, you will not depart from those ways.  Who am I to argue with His promise?

So I guess the next question is, who would I like for you to become?  What does, “raising you up right” really mean?  I think at this point in all of our lives, we’ve come to the understanding, that I am your mother, not your friend.   And trust me, there are many women in the Bible that are truly amazing, but they are their own women.  I want you both to grow into whoever God wants you to become.  But when I studied the characteristics of the Virtuous Wife, I can only hope you can reflect some of who she is described to be when you mature into women.

You see, it’s not about you becoming worthy of a husband, but you becoming invaluable to yourselves.  I want to instill the morals and virtues in you that will follow you all the days of your lives.  The number one thing I take from this passage is she was a Superwoman. I don’t want you to have capes my darlings, but I am wise enough to know, to make a balanced life for yourselves, you will have to wear many hats, and wear them well.  This woman was a wife, a mother, a businesswoman, skillful with her hands, a diligent homemaker, compassionate with those in need, and revered by her husband and children.

I know you gripe about your chores and prefer to play, but there is a time for everything.  It is my goal to allow you to be children and not grow up too quickly, but at the same time I must ensure you become productive adults.  Most importantly I must make sure you know how to take care of yourselves.  Cleaning your rooms, will teach you to one day keep a clean house.  Eating fruits and vegetables and drinking water, will teach you physical health.  Teaching you to lose gracefully, is to instill in you, you won’t always win.  Saying no to you, is so you understand, you can’t always get what you want.  And when I say “later” or “not right now”, know that I’m building patience within you.  When you tell me your bored and don’t feed in to giving you the attention you want, know that there are going to come times in your life when you need to just be still.  Understand when I tell you it’s none of your business, realize, you don’t always need to know everything, and sometimes life runs a little smoother without all the gory details.

The most important gift I can pass onto you in your young lives is prayer.  When we hold hands at dinner and bow our heads in prayer, I want you to be thankful not just for the food, but for the family that sits at that table with you.  When we lay our heads to rest at night and pray, I want you to know that each day is a gift and you must be thankful you woke in the morning and made it home at night.  Know that for all the days of your lives that I am always here for both of you and your happiness is my top priority. And know my loves, from Proverbs 31:30 “But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

I love you my darlings.

Love and God,

Mommy