In Praise of Women and Mother's Day
What the Mother of the Old Testament Moses (and a Paris Perfume Clerk) Taught Me About Women
In Praise of All Women
Last year, I was in Paris with one of my grandsons. We decided we’d go to the Guerlain store — a name that suggests elegance, legacy, and a little musk. Our mission was simple: buy some cologne that smelled manly, musky, and lasting. We even said it out loud to each other, several times, as we walked in: We are manly men.
We tried a few samples and made our selection. I did what any American man might do: I handed the bottle to the clerk behind the counter, expecting her to ring it up, toss it in a bag, and send us on our way.
But that is not what she did.
She asked if we’d like the bottle monogrammed. Of course, we said yes. She engraved our initials. Then she placed the bottle in its original box, sealed it in cellophane, wrapped it in soft tissue, added more tissue so it bloomed like a bouquet in the gift bag, and tied the bag handles with ribbon in a perfect bow.
As we left, I turned to Moses and said with total sincerity:
“I love women. I love what they do.”
I explained to Moses that she could have handed us the bottle in a bag and been done with it. Instead, she made something ordinary, some utilitarian, beautiful. That’s what women do. That’s what they’ve always done.
And as we approach Mother’s Day — a good day, yes, but too small a day — I find myself drawn to a much older story about women who did more than monogram perfume.
One built an ark.
One stood in the reeds.
One opened her arms.
They changed the world.
The Woman Who Would Not Surrender
Exodus 2 begins without names. Just “a man” and “a woman.” They have a child — a beautiful one, the Scripture says. But the moment he is born, he is in danger.
Pharaoh has issued a decree: every Hebrew baby boy is to be thrown into the Nile.
The nameless woman — later revealed as Jochebed — hides her son for three months. When she can no longer hide him, she obeys Pharaoh’s decree… sort of.
She places her son in the river, yes — but inside a hand-woven basket sealed with pitch, gently placed among the reeds. She lets him go. But not into despair — into the providence of God.
She doesn’t know now the story will end. She casts her child into the deep blue seas of the Nile.
Wait. What? Are you kidding? What mother would do that? No mother ever would. She must have a plan, a scheme, a method to the seeming madness of the act.
Indeed she does. In a world of oppressive men, short odds, and severe punishment, she does her own thing. She defies the odds. Jochebed loops her small daughter into a scheme to have her cake and eat it too.
Watch how it happens…
The Designs of Women
The story of Exodus and the entire Bible for that matter, is a story of manly men doing manly things. At least, that is the surface reading. Lets look at the story closely.
It tells you something about men.
Here’s Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, pounding the table, issuing edicts, demanding control:
“I decree that all male Hebrew children be thrown into the Nile!”
Blah, blah, blah. Bluster. Bombast. Vapor talk.
It reminds me of a mission trip to Kungur, Russia, many years ago. Our church had partnered with a small congregation there, and I traveled as part of an advance team.
We arrived in a country caught between the collapse of the Soviet system and the promises of the West. The men gathered often. They gave speeches, made toasts, laid out grand plans. But very little happened. Vapor talk.
The women, on the other hand, were working.
They were raising children, sewing clothes, opening shops, growing food, starting micro-businesses — doing whatever they could with whatever they had to rebuild what was lost.
While the men talked, the women built.
It tells you something about women.
And what do the women in Exodus say to Pharaoh’s bluster?
“Yeah, whatever.”
The midwives fool Pharaoh.
The mother fools Pharaoh.
The sister — Miriam — fools Pharaoh.
Even Pharaoh’s own daughter, filled with compassion, fools her father.
Let’s pause on Miriam.
She’s a child — but she’s not passive. She stands at a distance, watching the ark among the reeds. That alone takes courage. But more than that, she acts. At just the right moment, she approaches the most powerful woman in Egypt and speaks.
“Shall I go and call a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
There is no hesitation in her voice, no uncertainty in her plan. Her question is rhetorical, brave, and brilliant. She’s orchestrating a moment of divine irony — a girl standing in the gap between Pharaoh’s wrath and God’s redemptive future.
Miriam is the first person in the Bible to speak on Moses’ behalf.
She is not just a watcher.
She is a witness.
She is not just a sister.
She is a savior — in the lowercase sense.
It tells you something about God.
God is never named in the story. But He is everywhere.
He is in the current of the Nile, in the compassion of a princess, in the courage of a sister, in the hope of a mother.
His hands are never tied. But they are often hidden — behind ours.
The Hidden Work That Holds the World Together
Women make things happen. They make them beautiful — even when the world is ugly.
They build homes from hardship. They tell stories when others lose hope. They nurture faith in children when the world tries to drown it. They hold the line — with ribbon and reeds and resourcefulness.
I thank the Lord for the women in my life:
My mother, who gave me life.
My wife, who gave life to our children and walked beside me through every year of our marriage and ministry.
My daughters, who now lead their own families with grace and courage.
The women of the church — the ones who quietly, faithfully, joyfully do the work that makes the Church strong and the Gospel visible.
Without the women, the Church would limp along.
The Gospel would still go forward — but more slowly and with less beauty.
Mother’s Day is Too Small a Day
Mother’s Day is a good day. But it is too small a day to honor the women who live out this story every single day.
Some are not mothers. Some grieve. Some feel unseen. I know. I’ve pastored those hearts.
But this one day doesn’t begin to honor the role and wonder of women — married or single, with children or not.
We say, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
Some might scoff: “Typical. Pandering. Whatever…”
But Scripture shows us what history knows: Women are the secret agents of redemption.
They are builders. Protectors. Storytellers. Providers.
They are the ones who make baskets and line arks.
They are the ones who make cologne look like a blessing from heaven.
Ask Moses
If you had asked Moses at the end of his life, “Who made you who you are?”
He might have said:
“Four women saved me:
My mother — who protected me.
My sister — who plotted for me.
Pharaoh’s daughter — who provided for me.
And my wife — who prayed for me.”
If you had asked him, “Where did you learn about God?”
He might have said:
“From my mother’s voice.
From my sister’s courage.
From women who refused to give up — even when the world told them to.”
So yes, we should celebrate Mother’s Day.
Give flowers. Write cards. Make brunch.
But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s enough.
It’s too small a day to honor the women through whom God builds, saves, heals, and redeems the world — quietly, persistently, faithfully, and beautifully.
They may not always be named. But heaven knows who they are.
And the world — whether it realizes it or not — owes them everything.
Grace and Peace,
For the Beach, Bedtime or Study
Are you looking for a book that tells the story of another as hidden but as powerful as Jochebed? Consider The Ordinary Ways of God, the story of the quiet, resolved, and coureagous Ruth. It is one of my best sellling devotional books. It will make for a great beach read, or even a small group or personal study. Click on the thumbnail or the button.
The Anglican is the Substack newsletter for LeaderWorks, where I share insights, encouragement, and practical tools for clergy and lay Christians. I’m also an author of over a dozen books available on Amazon.
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This post is so warm and tender. It touched my heart deeply. I am going to send it on to several of my girlfriends who are mothers and in need of a "word" such as this I will also send it to my daughters and daughter-in-law. Thank you for such an inspirational piece.
As a wife, mother and grandmother, this post brought me to tears. Thank you for sharing your beautiful insights. I am passing this post on to my two daughters who are also wives and mothers.