Ponder

The other evening Mr. Jorie and I were seated at a dinner next to a couple we had never met.  They were very interesting, having lived and worked abroad, having pursued many interests and they were even writing a book together.  We chatted as we shared a meal and we talked about where we were from, the type of work we had been in, our interests and our children and grandchildren.  The other couple did not have children.

I got to thinking. 

If my newest girlfriend had no children, I wondered what she pondered about.

I find myself pondering a lot these days...but most times, I must admit, it is my children I am thinking about.  I have often prided myself on being a mother and mother-in-law who does not give lots of advice.  I am ready and willing to do so when I am asked, but I think long and hard on many things before giving advice to one of these dear people whom I love so greatly.

Instead, I ponder, which is an act of personal discipline for me.  Don't get me wrong.  It's not that I don't have an opinion, for rest assured I do indeed have a lot I could say.  During conversations, I listen and converse and love the chit chit, but ultimately I take it all in and then I ponder. 

According to the dictionary ponder means:  to weigh in the mind, to appraise, to consider something deeply and thoroughly.  And that's what I do when I hear from one of my four children.

In the Bible, in the second chapter of Luke, we are told of the story of the birth of Christ.  Then, after the dramatic birth in a stable after searching for more suitable lodging and visits by a bunch of shepherds and their sheep, Mary ponders.  We are told, "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

I realize that anyone can ponder, and no doubt the new world traveling friends we met at dinner do ponder about many things, however I believe there is a special kind of pondering that only mother's do. 

And so along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with mothers everywhere, I ponder...and then I pray....and then I try to get on with living and the enjoyment life has to offer.  And in the discipline, I become stronger, perhaps wiser and maybe even a little more approachable.