Mom, Thanks For All You Do! (Updated)

TITLE: Mom, Thanks for All You Do

I. INTRODUCTION:

A. When God Created Mothers...

When the Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of "overtime" when an angel appeared and said, "You're taking a lot of time on this one."

And God said, "Have you read the specs on this order?" She must be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts...all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands."

The angel shook his head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands? No way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God remarked, "it's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. God nodded. "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, 'I understand, and I love you' without so much as uttering a word."

"God," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Get some rest tomorrow...."

"I can't," said God, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick... can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger meat... and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the prototype model of a mother very slowly. "It's way too soft," she sighed. "But tough!" said God excitedly. "You can imagine what this mother can do or endure." "Can it think?" "Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator. Finally, the angel bent over and ran his finger across the cheek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told You that You were trying to cram too much into this model." "It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear." "What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."

B. What Mothers Should Make (2025):

Salary.com estimated in 2024 that if mothers were paid for the work they do, their annual salary would be valued at $184,820—a steady increase from previous years.

The calculation considers more than 90 hours of weekly labor as moms juggle roles like teacher, nurse, chef, counselor, and driver.

Oxfam America, in a broader 2024 report, still emphasizes the value of unpaid labor—especially by women—as invaluable to the global economy, estimating its worth at over $1.7 trillion in the U.S. alone if compensated at minimum wage.

Mom, thank you for all that you do! You are, without exaggeration, holding the world together in unseen and often undervalued ways.

Mom, thank you for all that you do! It may go unrecognized sometimes, and it shouldn't. So today we want to encourage you. What you have done as a mother, and what you are doing as a mother, matters. It flows from who you are, who God made you to be. It matters.

Mom, thank you for all that you do! You shape us into what we become. It has been said that the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.

C. THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE IS THE HAND THAT RULES THE WORLD (William Ross Wallace)

BLESSINGS on the hand of women! Angels guard its strength and grace. In the palace, cottage, hovel, Oh, no matter where the place; Would that never storms assailed it, Rainbows ever gently curled, For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain, Power may with beauty flow, Mothers first to guide the streamlets, From them souls unresting grow— Grow on for the good or evil, Sunshine streamed or evil hurled, For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission, Here upon our natal sod; Keep—oh, keep the young heart open Always to the breath of God! All true trophies of the ages Are from mother-love impearled, For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women! Fathers, sons, and daughters cry, And the sacred song is mingled With the worship in the sky— Mingles where no tempest darkens, Rainbows evermore are hurled; For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.

Abraham Lincoln said, "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

Oh, it's true, Mom, what you have done and what you are doing shapes the world in which we live. What you are doing matters. It is vital. It is important. Mom, thanks for all that you do!