The Perfect Parent
In Loving Memory of Dorothy Dixon Kelso (1922-2011)
Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Psalm 27:10
My mother was born in Chowan County, North Carolina, on October 4, 1922. She was adopted out of an abusive environment in 1930 by John and Mary Dixon of Cheriton, Virginia.
Until I reached adulthood, I never knew my mother had been adopted, much less that she had been an abuse victim. She never spoke of it. As far as she was concerned, the Dixons were the only parents she ever had.
Mom flourished in her new environment and became a kind, generous woman who loved God wholeheartedly. Like a neon OPEN sign on the front porch of heaven, her face radiated the availability of God’s goodness and love. Her childlike faith taught me that I was always welcome in God’s home and on His lap, that His love was unshakable and everlasting.
Psalm 27 was Mom’s favorite psalm. When I read verse 10, a lump of sorrow-coated gratitude sticks in my throat. God gave me loving, God-fearing parents—a blessing my mother didn’t have the first eight years of her life.
We don’t know when David wrote this psalm or why he felt abandoned by his parents. The Bible mentions his mother only once—when David was a fugitive, he moved his parents to Moab for safety (1 Samuel 22:3). Neither do we know much about his early home life. However, several of his psalms mention feelings of abandonment, and passages like 1 Samuel 16:10-11 and 17:28-29 suggest that he wasn’t the most beloved member of his family.
In a number of ways Psalm 27 is a tribute to God as the perfect parent. He provides for David everything a person seeks from a parent: protection, security, comfort, attention, guidance, and goodness.
For many people, Mother’s Day is bittersweet, if not downright painful. But no matter what kind of earthly home we started in, we can all look forward to a loving, eternal home in heaven. Mom once wrote, “How can I be sad when I begin to count my blessings? I am to rejoice in all things at all times in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the source of my joy.” Do you look to God as Your perfect parent and source of joy?
DIG DEEPER:
Pray Psalm 27 back to God. Thank your heavenly Father for all the ways He cares for you.
Do you struggle with feelings of abandonment? Meditating on psalms like 69, 138, and 143 will soothe your soul.
Read Isaiah 49:13-16. What is God’s promise to Israel? In what way does that comfort and encourage you?
Read 1 Peter 1:3-9. According to Peter, what is the source of our joy? Why should we rejoice even in the midst of difficulty?
For other perspectives on Mother’s Day, see Spiritual Motherhood and A Mother’s Day Legacy in Dig into Holidays.
Denise K. Loock