Martha Olawale

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:28-29

As I lay sleeping, I could hear her voice whispering softly near me and feel her hand resting gently on my head. It was another night I was awoken by my mother praying over me. Although I didn’t enjoy losing a few minutes of my sleep on nights like that, it was a normal part of my childhood and, I found peace in her tall silhouette towering over me in the dead of night.

Mum was not by any means an average woman raising six kids. She faced different Goliaths at every turn, but she was a warrior who stood to fight off all of them. She had a firm understanding of who God is and where she stands with Him and never backed down to the giants.

Her commanding presence was directly tied to her heavenly Father and regardless of where the tide pushed her, her focus was fixed on Jesus. Mum woke us up at six every morning and at nine every night to sing hymns and pray together as a family. While I can’t claim that was fun then, looking back, I adore her for her tenacity. Through her unwavering love for God, despite the many challenges she faced, she laid a foundation so firm that I cannot imagine walking away from the God she served.

Walking with God is the greatest adventure anyone can embark on in life and for me to see my mother walk that path ahead of me gives me the strength to fearlessly tread the treacherous terrains of life. I know who I am in Christ because I saw my mum live out the beauty of God’s grace and love. Her life did not look pretty all the time, but her joy never faded because it was rooted in Christ.

In a world where the human identity has become so confusing and the sense of worth uncertain, it takes knowing God to know who you are and I’m glad I had a mother who showed me that path. She was devoted to her husband and gave everything up to see her children flourish. My momma was a woman who lived for others, spicing up her world with the joy that only God gives, and she loved overwhelming and beyond reproach.