Moms Make A Difference

Moms Make a Difference

[2] Today is the day when Moms get the special treatment, right? You know, breakfast in bed; homemade Mother’s Day cards from the kids; flowers from your husband; lunch at your favorite restaurant; and absolutely no house cleaning! (How come I’m seeing some of you ladies give your husbands ‘the elbow’?)

Mom’s deserve all this special treatment one day a year. And you know, maybe it’s because they teach our kids so much! Dana Chau wrote a tribute to her Mother for all the important things she taught her about life.

My mother taught me RELIGION: When I spilled grape juice on the carpet, she instructed, "You better pray that stain will come out!"

My mother taught me how to be DECISIVE: When she said, "Because I said so, that’s why."

My mother taught me FORESIGHT: "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident."

My mother taught me IRONY: "Just keep laughing and I’ll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about STAMINA: "You’ll sit there ’til all that spinach is finished."

My mother taught me about WEATHER: "It looks as if a tornado swept through your room."

My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: "Stop acting like your father!"

My mother taught me about APPRECIATION: "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have a wonderful Mom like you do!"

My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

But seriously, Moms are so amazing and do so much for their children. Things that only a Mother can do. And this is your day Moms to receive appreciation and honor and a well deserved rest.

But even with all that honor, even with all that praise, even with having your own day right on the calendar, as a Mother do you ever feel like a failure? Moms, do you ever feel like you’re doing a lousy job? Ever feel like no matter how hard you work and how much you pour into your kid’s lives it doesn’t make a difference?

Now life can be a little hectic at times. Life can be a little stressful at times. We even fail at times as parents. But Moms, even when you feel like you aren’t making a difference – you are! [3] You make a difference in your children’s lives! Maybe even the biggest difference that there could be made.

George Barna did some extensive research on today’s generation of teens. He published his findings in a book called “Third Millennium Teens”. This research looks at their worldviews, their interests, their struggles, their influences, and many other things. But what caught my attention about his study were today’s teen influences. What and who influences today’s youth. Can you guess what the number one influence, according to the teens themselves, is?

[4] 80% of today’s teens say their parents are the biggest influence in their lives!

The percentage is the same for non-Christian and Christian teens. Eight out of ten teens say Mom and Dad have more influence over them than their coaches, than their teachers, than their friends, than their Youth Pastor, than the Bible, than tv, than anything! Parents are the main influence in their children’s lives. Moms, you make a difference!

This morning, we’ll be looking at a Mom who made a huge difference in her child’s life. We’ll be looking at the mothering of Hannah towards her son Samuel. Turn with me to the first book of Samuel starting in chapter one.

To help us understand this Mother Hannah better, we need to get some background information. As we do this, we’ll see she lived a long time in a [5] difficult situation.

[Read I Samuel 1:1-18.]

As we look into Hannah’s life she had some serious pressures to deal with. [6] Her main problem was that she was unable to bear children. This is probably why her husband took another wife. Even though God didn’t approve of polygamy, men still married other women to make sure that their family would go on after they died. So to carry on the family name Elkanah married again and started to have children with the other woman.

Now I don’t know about you, but this woman he married was a real piece of work. Year after year after year she’d make fun of, taunt and make sure and remind Hannah how less of a woman she was since she couldn’t have kids. The pressure was so bad for Hannah that she was depressed and even developed an eating disorder.

[Read I Samuel 1:6-7.]

Moms today have a lot of pressures to deal with when it comes to raising their kids. And the pressure even gets worse if they’re doing it alone! Pressures like: