Five Ways To Keep Mom From Running Away

FIVE WAYS TO KEEP MOM FROM RUNNING AWAY

2 Tim. 1:5

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: “$150 a Week to Talk about Mom”

1. Three Moms were bragging about their grown sons. The first one told of the extravagant birthday parties her son threw for her. “Why he even hired a band for my last birthday.”

2. The second Mom bragged how her son gave her lavish vacations; “Just last month he sent me to Hawaii for the third time!”

3. The third Mom, not to be outdone, said, “That’s nothing. My son pays a psychiatrist $150 a week, just to talk about me!”

B. NO LOVE GREATER THAN A MOTHER’S LOVE

1. One of the Chicago Tribune photos of the decade, was by Michael Fryer. It captured a grim fireman and paramedic carrying a fire victim away from the scene.

2. The blaze, which happened in Chicago, at first seemed routine. But then firefighters discovered the bodies of a mother and five children huddled in the kitchen of an apartment.

3. Fryer said the firefighters reasoned, “She could have escaped with two or three of the children, but couldn’t decide whom to pick. So she chose to wait with all of them until the firefighters arrived. All of them died of smoking inhalation.”

4. Paul talked to Timothy about his mother’s faith & love, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” 2 Tim. 1:5, ESV.

C. TITLE: “FIVE WAYS TO KEEP MOM FROM RUNNING AWAY”

1. DO MOTHERS REALLY RUN AWAY FROM HOME? Some do.

2. Others have run away in their hearts – they’ve given up trying to do their job with joy (maybe they feel unappreciated, or overwhelmed).

3. Greater pressures than ever are on mothers, since many must work jobs to shore-up the family budget.

4. Here are 5 ways a husband and children can keep Mom at home:

I. LOVE MOM AS THOUGH SHE WERE GOING TO DIE TOMORROW

A. LADY AFTER MOM’S FUNERAL

1. Dear Ann Landers: “I had a marvelous mother who loved, sacrificed for and helped me in every possible way. All my years of growing up, through college and eventually marriage, my mother was at my side. When I needed help with my little ones, she was there for me.

2. Today, we buried that marvelous woman. Can you imagine how I felt when I returned from the services and found this poem in her desk drawer?

3. ‘THE TIME IS NOW. If you are ever going to love me, love me now, while I can know the sweet and tender feelings which from true affection flow. Love me now while I am living, Don’t wait until I’m gone and then have it chiseled in marble; sweet words on ice-cold stone. If you have tender thoughts of me, please tell me now. If you wait until I’m sleeping, never to awaken, there’ll be death between us and I won’t hear you then. So, if love me, even a little bit, let me know it while I’m living, so I can treasure it.’

4. Now she is gone and I am sick with guilt because I never told her what she meant to me. Worse yet, I didn’t treat her as she deserved to be treated.

5. I found time for everyone and everything, but I never made time for her. It would’ve been easy to drop in for a cup of tea and a hug, but my friends came first. Would any of them have done for me what my mother did? I know the answer.

6. When I called mom on the phone, I was always in a hurry. I feel ashamed when I think of the times I cut her off. I remember too, the times I could have included her, but I didn’t.

7. Our children loved grandma from infancy; they turned to her for counsel and comfort. She understood them. I realize now that I was too critical, too short tempered, too stingy with praise. Grandma gave them unconditional love.

8. The world is filled with daughters like me. I hope they see themselves in this column and profit from it. It’s too late for me and I am sick with regrets – GUILTY AND HEARTBROKEN.

B. SOWING & REAPING

1. Children somehow believe mothers will live forever. It isn’t true. The way we treat our mothers is the way our children will treat us.

2. “Honor thy Mother...” is the 5th commandment, the first one dealing with human relationships.

II. TELL HER THAT YOU LOVE HER

A. FREQUENCY OF CRITICISM

1. A Mother’s job is one of the hardest in the world. She is constantly criticized, in thought, if not in word; “this house needs cleaning” or “supper is cold” or “I don’t have any clean clothes.”