The Mama Model

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The first fashion model I remember from my growing-up days was a super-skinny English girl, whom the world came to know as Twiggy. She became one of the world’s first supermodels in 1966 when she was just 16. As her name suggests, Twiggy looked like a twig.

Even at 13 years of age, I knew I didn’t want to look like Twiggy. She was pretty with her big, round eyes, but even my young mind could figure out that she was too skinny.

When our little girls and boys are growing up around us, we worry sometimes about the influences on them. Even if we shield them from lots of the world — and what homeschooling mama doesn’t have that as at least one of her purposes in homeschooling? — we know that they are looking and watching. We want so much to be sure that their models are good ones.

The third verse of “Once in Royal David’s City” speaks of an important fact about a child’s life: one of their most influential models is you.

And, through all His wondrous childhood,
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden,
In whose gentle arms He lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

The author of this hymn suggests — and I believe accurately so — that while Jesus was growing up, He watched His mother. I don’t remember ever reading that idea anywhere else except in this song, but, of course, it is true. Every child watches his or her mother.

This is an encouraging fact of life and a daunting one.

I was a longtime member of 4-H when I was growing up. My main projects were sewing and cooking. One of the yearly activities for those of us involved in sewing was the Dress Review. We received lessons on modeling — how and where to walk, how to stick our left foot out in a modeling pose and how to pivot around to show the back of our garment — that’s a word we never used in our daily lives, but one we used in our 4-H sewing projects.

None of that gave me a desire to want actually to be a model when I grew up. However, without aspiring to be one, I became one nonetheless when I became a mother. Actually, I became a model when I was born. We all do. It’s just that we are really confronted with the weight of that responsibility when we become mamas and come to realize that we are modeling 24/7.

Praise God for giving us many opportunities to hone our modeling skills:

• The Bible — His complete modeling textbook.
• Prayer — His 24/7 helpline.
• Godly older women — His models for us.

God thinks models are so important that He sent His Son to earth to be our ultimate model.

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,”
and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.
By this we know that we are in Him:
the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk
in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:2-6

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