A Mother's Desire

As he peered into the crib he sucked in his breath through his teeth. “Wow! Sure looks funny, doesn’t he? All red and wrinkly like an old man. Hey, you!” he said, thrusting a grubby finger into the tiny fist of my brand-new baby. “He sure isn’t very good-looking, is he,” he said cheerfully, blowing a big bubble with the gum he chewed noisily. I choked back the words I wanted to say, and instead said, “Give him time.”

After a few awkward moments, the boy left, and as I closed the door behind him, I turned to see my mother looking at me with a bemused expression. “It’s not easy to take, is it,” she said. “But I’m afraid it’s only the beginning.” “The beginning of what?”

“Of your baby being evaluated by others. People more often than not say what they think. He’ll always be compared to someone else. That’s life in a competitive world.”

Salome, perhaps felt this same sort of pressure. She was protective for her boys who lived life in a competitive world. Where her sons will be compared and just to get an advantage over the competition, she came and requested her sons be seated on the right and on the left of Jesus when He in enthroned as King in His kingdom. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with a mother who has a desire for her boys to succeed? To be seated on right and left of a King, that’s a position of power, that’s a position to rule, to do whatever you want, no questions asked. It’s a life of privilege, of nobility, of royalty. That’s like almost being a king, but without the title of king. That’s what Salome wanted for her boys, a great future with the future King. Typical mom eh? And from where I am standing, her boys raised no objections, they wanted that too!

Here are some positive things Salome or Mrs. Zebedee did…

1. This mom prays for her kids.

2. This mom think highly of her kids.

3. Sometime moms do not know what they are asking. That’s OK, believe it or not!

Here are some examples of some mothers and what they could have SAID:

MONA LISA’S MOTHER: "After all that money your father and I spent on braces, Mona, that’s the biggest smile you can give us?"

HUMPTY DUMPTY’S MOTHER: "Humpty, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times not to sit on that wall. But would you listen to me? Noooo!"

COLUMBUS’ MOTHER: "I don’t care what you’ve discovered, Christopher. You still could have written!"

MICHELANGELO’S MOTHER: "Mike, can’t you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?"

NAPOLEON’S MOTHER: "All right, Napoleon. If you aren’t hiding your report card inside your jacket, then take your hand out of there and prove it!"

JONAH’S MOTHER: "That’s a nice story, but now tell me where you’ve really been for the last three days."

Yup, sometimes they just don’t know what they’re saying or asking… That’s because it is not easy to be mom.

James Dobson tells about a time he came home when his son, Ryan, was a small baby. It had been a terrible day for his wife. Ryan had been sick, & had cried all day long.