A Hero Turned 51 Today

 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Proverbs 31:27-30

Most picture superheroes in tights and capes
Who change in phone booths with a grin on their face.
They can leap tall buildings in a single bound
And rescue small children who nearly drown.
With bulging biceps these men of steel
Cause women to faint and children to squeal.
They can prevent crashes by stopping a train
And save all the passengers on a pilotless plane.
They seem normal until a need arises
Then off go the glasses for masked disguises.
But I knew a hero in jumpers and blouses
Who  bravely kept love in five different houses.
She couldn't leap buildings in a single bound
But could sleep so light to hear the baby's slightest sound.
At the sound of a cough, she could climb twelve stairs.
She often swallowed her feelings to make more room for theirs.
She probably couldn't stop fast-moving trains
But could lovingly endure all the dinner complaints.
For years, she simply did all she could
To love her children and teach them to be good.
She kissed them goodnight and taught them to pray
Even when they didn't put their all toys away.
She could take a temperature by the palm of her hand,
And pass out four dinners while driving a mini-van.
She didn't save a town or rescue a city
In fact, she didn't even think that she was very pretty.
But she did save a family and did her duty
While never really seeing her own true beauty.
She wrapped her approval up in just one man
And struggled to prove to be his biggest fan.
When the enemy came to steal and destroy,
She clung to her hope and found a new joy.
For only when she had to face a repeated past,
Were her superhero powers finally unmasked.
She still places her hope in just one man
But this one died on a cross with nails in his hands.
I just wish I'd seen or wish I'd known
I was living all those years with a silent hero.
There are storms that will rage, but she will still stand.
Like a mighty palm tree planted deep in the sand.