There is a special place in God’s heart for moms with four boys (and no girls). Darby Gilliam is such a woman.
These type of women are deserving of praise for 
countless reasons. Bodily exhaust emanating from five males (including dads) alone should be reason enough for the maternal accolades due these women. Additionally, they must set aside dreams of tea parties and pink dresses, they must forgo Barbie for GI Joe and they must of course lay aside braiding hair in favor of getting gum out of it.
For these moms in a tornado of testosterone, it can be easy to wonder if you are being a good mom to boys, let alone a good mom in general but I have a bit of insider information for you today. I want to share one thing that my mom regularly did for me that I will never forget. Moments in my life that have stuck with me and in some ways made me the man I am today.
Before I get to those formative moments in my life, let me do a fact session with you. 1) Boys like to eat.
2) Teenage boys really like to eat
3) The old aphorism is true, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
With the facts in place, let me get back to the story. Whenever my mom would pick me up from school in my early teenage years, the verbal transaction looked something like this- Mom:”How was your day at school?” Me: “What’s for dinner?” Now, let me first say that I am thoroughly embarrassed by my neanderthal-like responses to my mother but let me also be clear that I was a teenage boy and on the whole this group is incompetent at communication with the opposite sex, which especially includes those of the opposite sex who happen to be your mother. No matter the situation, I was prone to mutter “what’s for dinner” to whatever queries my mother put forth. I am sure at the time, she wondered if communication was ever possible with such a single-minded, pimply-faced teenage boy.
After my caveman-like questions regarding food provisions for the evening, my mom would sigh at the communications stonewall and continue on the journey home. And then she did something magical. She made dinner. I know that making dinner is not a miracle but for a working mother with four boys, it almost is. And she always did it. This was her gift to us, even when communication was minimal between her and her teenage boys, she still communicated. My mom found a way to speak through faithful service. She spoke without moving her lips. She was a beacon of provision and continuity through the perilous storms of my teenage years.
“What’s for dinner?” was of course the utterance of a hungry teenager but in retrospect, it was much more than that. I was asking if things were still normal and if our home was still a place of comfort and satisfaction. And it always was.
Moms, there are countless acts that you perform every day that seemingly go unnoticed. Let me assure you today that your kids are watching and you are speaking even when you aren’t moving your lips. For me and my mom, our communication came through something as simple as roast beef and fried chicken. The point is, the details of your service may seem quiet and monotonous but I assure you that your message is loud and clear.
