In Celebration Of Mothers

IN CELEBRATION OF MOTHERS

ON MOTHERS’ DAY

I. Incidentals and remembrances of motherhood

Today is a special day, giving us a fine occasion to appreciate mothers for the difficult, often thankless, and so very important job they do. Mothers provide great comfort and stability for their children through their growing years and support in adulthood. In the fifth of the 10 commandments God said, “Honor your father and your mother,” and none would deny that good mothers are worthy of their honor.

So this is the day mothers are honored for washing dirty faces, wiping leaky noses, patching up bloody knees, kissing hurt places, changing the sheets in the middle of the night, driving kids to school and picking them up, never going to the bathroom alone without a child needing something, proudly watching them perform in musical or sports events, holding all the things their children runs up and asks “would you hold this for me, Mom?”

It’s a day of appreciation for mothers:

…making your children finish something they thought they couldn’t do.

…not believing them when their actions or even words said, "I hate you."

Motherhood is:

Wondering if promising and giving your child something they really want if they behave is bribing your children (or rewarding good behavior?)

Getting rowdy kids to settle down by tricking them into playing the quiet game (it must have been a mother who got that idea).

I read this somewhere: A mother talking to an old college friend said, "Before I was married I had 3 theories about raising children. Now I have 3 children and no theories."

II. Importance of mothers

Erma Bombeck wrote: For the first 4 or 5 years after I had children, I considered motherhood a temporary condition -- not a calling. It was a time of my life set aside for exhaustion and long hours. It would pass. Then one afternoon, with 3 kids in tow, I came out of a supermarket pushing a cart (with four wheels that went in opposite directions) when my toddler son got away from me. Just outside the door, he ran toward a machine holding bubble gum in a glass dome. In a voice that shattered glass he shouted, "Gimme! Gimme!" I told him I would give him what for if he didn’t stop shouting and get in the car.

As I physically tried to pry his body from around the bubble gum machine, he pulled the entire thing over. Glass and balls of bubble gum went all over the parking lot. We had now attracted a sizable crowd.

I told him he would never see a cartoon as long as he lived, and if he didn’t control his temper, he was going to be making license plates for the state.

He tried to stifle his sobs as he looked around at the staring crowd. Then he did something that I was to remember for the rest of my life. In his helpless quest for comfort, he turned to the only one he trusted his emotions with -- me. He threw his arms around my knees and held on for dear life.

I had humiliated him, chastised him, and berated him, but I was still all he had. That single incident defined my role. I was a major force in this child’s life.

Motherhood is demanding, infinitely important, and life-long. When her children are grown and have children of their own, a mother is still a mother.

This is a paraphrase of one mother’s observation: "We must realize the importance of our examples in the development of our children’s characters. We must realize that our children can see through the masks we put on. Our inner attitudes and thoughts will be revealed to our children by our actions, not just our words.”

The chances are, if you think you are fooling your kids, you are only fooling only yourself. Motherhood (and fatherhood) are too important to fool around with.

Elements in today’s society try to make women feel they should feel ashamed for being mothers and wives - that mothers and wives have settled for a lower, less fulfilling calling than those who have careers outside the home. But there is no nobler calling than that of a godly mother raising her children for the Lord.

• Our mothers bring us into the world.

• They nurture us.

• They provide for us.

• They raise us.

• They teach us.

• They discipline us.

• They love us.

III. Mothers in the Bible

A. When we think about motherhood there are some mothers in the Bible narratives that spring to mind:

• Jochabed, mother of Moses, went against Pharaoh’s decree to save her baby. (Exo 2:1-4)

• Let’s not forget the daughter of Pharaoh:

The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:10)