There Are No Shortcuts to Motherhood

We both knew that she was stealing from me. I was cementing rock to our home’s foundation, which requires quite a bit of masonry mix concrete. She was a wasp. Maybe you did not know that only female wasps build the houses their babies are hatched in. Motherhood is a tough job by any standard.

This wasp is what we refer to as a “Mud Dauber.”  You have seen countless thousands of their long cylindrical nests if you live in Kansas. The Lady Dauber builds her nest and then paralyzes spiders to stock the nest. The baby wasps eat the spiders until they are hatched. The spiders are not dead, only paralyzed, and the wasp babies suck the life out of them. Thus nourished, they chew their way through the mud to freedom.

This particular wasp was taking a shortcut. She was stealing my concrete in little balls and flying away with it to build her nest. I know it must be difficult to find some standing water, mix up little balls of mud, and fly off to build your nest. It would take a lot of time and a lot of effort!

When this little gal saw the opportunity to steal mud from me, she took it.  I certainly was not going to swat her for it. Taking my mud made her day less difficult. Parenting is hard enough, why not take some shortcuts?

This little lady wasp would build her nest, fill it with paralyzed spiders, lay her eggs in record time. Case closed.

“Closed” might be the operative word.  Young wasps are designed to escape from mud houses, not concrete ones. As I thought about it, I saw that taking shortcuts with our children might have disastrous consequences. The momma wasp had done a great deal of work, but she would never see her children.  They were entombed in a concrete house.

You probably had a mom that did not take shortcuts in parenting. You, indeed, are blessed. Many of us had/have mothers who worked hard and were “all in” in raising their children. But quite a few people are not as fortunate as you were/are.

We are at the season of the year when we celebrate motherhood.  And we should. The Word of God does not underestimate the value of a godly mother.

(Proverbs 1:8-9) “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching, for they will be a garland of grace on your head and a gold chain around your neck.”

(Proverbs 31:26-27) “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

Here is a special “Thank You” to our moms who did not take shortcuts. We love you. Your demanding work has made a difference. Because of you the world is a much better place.