Barbara Bush died last week, and I have suddenly become fascinated with her life. Never having paid much attention to her before, it is somewhat surprising to be so drawn to her now. However, given the myriad tributes and special reports that have focused on her just in the first 24 hours of her passing, I would say there is reason to pay attention.
I find it so interesting that though she herself was never President, nor did she have some grand achievement to boast per se, she was highly influential because of the family of which she was a part. Headlines have stated she "ran the family who ran the country." Reminds me a little of the saying, "Behind every good man is a good woman." The fact that she chose to love and lead well in her calling as wife and mother even though she never deliberately sought the spotlight gives women like me great hope.
In this season of being Mom to young children, the temptation to be discontent or feel less-than can at times seem overwhelming. It is far too easy to look around at others and compare their achievements or contributions to my embarrassing lack thereof. Social media provides a wonderland of devastation. Until... Until I remember who I am, WHOSE I am, and Who is writing my story. Incidentally, the One who writes our stories is also the One who designed the measuring stick for success. Oh, but I forget that far too much.
Barbara Bush became well known not because of who she was, but because of who her husband was. And she seemed perfectly secure in that fact. The love, admiration, and respect she had for her husband was apparent. She had a choice in how she would live her life, respond to situations, and serve her family. As she grew in wisdom, joy, and faith, so did those around her. The people surrounding her rose to success, but perhaps they did so while standing on her shoulders.
The knowledge of the power we have as women and the roles we play as such, can be somewhat sobering. In the mundane routine of my days - packing lunches, checking homework folders, folding laundry, grocery shopping - the seemingly insignificant tasks that simply must get done for us to live suddenly become much more important. Yes, I just made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Nothing life-changing about that. And yet, the little boy who takes that sandwich to school, will open his lunch box and read the note reminding him of how proud his mother is of him and how much he is loved, and he is changed by it. He grows up believing that he is something special. That his life has meaning and purpose. That his presence here matters. As a mom, I can use my influence to speak life and truth, to build up and support, or to tear down and destroy.
Obviously, I dare not compare what I have done in my 34 years of life to what Barbara Bush accomplished in her 92, but I can learn from her that even "small" achievements make a difference. It propels me forward and increases my desire to be an inspiration for others. It sheds not necessarily new, but refreshing light on my role as a woman, wife, and mother, and reminds me that what I do each day really does have meaning beyond what I can see.
Today, I am not speaking on a public stage. I am not a decorated author. I am not bandaging wounds of Syrian refugees or sheltering a dozen orphans from war-torn countries. I have not discovered the cure for cancer or built a life-giving business from the ground up. My name has never made the daily papers. Even so, my drive to make a difference is no less important. My desire to influence and the opportunities I have to do so are no less valuable or valid. And no one can say that God is not still working through my life, through every "Yes" I give Him.
No, today I am a Mom. A wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. I get to choose how I walk in those roles, and trust that as I walk with excellence, the Lord will continue leading each step. He is the One who gives meaning to our roles, whatever they may be. And He is the One who determines all those whom we will influence in our lifetime. (Lest you are tempted to be impressed with my self-acceptance, know that this is a truth I must preach to myself each and every day! The struggle is real.)
It is not always us who decides those who will truly change the world. We cannot see the parts of our stories that are yet unwritten. Surely mothers such as Susanna Wesley, Pauline Einstein, Adele Sandberg, Vernita Lee (Oprah's mother) and others never fully imagined who their 6 year-old children would one day grow up to be. But they believed in what could be and chose to use their influence as best they could.
We will never know what the Bush family might have been were Barbara not in it, but we do know how the Lord used her influence to powerfully shape the lives of those around her. And that is the cry of my heart: that God would take all that I have and allow it to be an inspiration for others, for the glory of Jesus. Perhaps my husband will never know the prayers I have lifted up on his behalf, but he can walk in the fruit that comes from them. Perhaps my children will never really know all the ways I served and sacrificed for them as they grew up, but I pray that God molds them into mighty men who are full of wisdom and favor because of their relationship with the Lord that was shaped in our home. It is possible my friends and neighbors and anyone else I come in contact with will not get to see the struggle between me and God as I wanted to resist what He was asking me to do but, by His grace, they will see the glory of Christ when I actually do choose to walk in obedience.
Yes, women can and do in fact, change the world. May we all be such women as we walk in the roles God has given us, remembering that each new season is not without divine purpose.