Mother's Day 2000 

INTRO.- Mothers. What can we say about them? Everything good and nothing bad.

ILL.- Eight-year-old Mary wrote her mother a note for Mother’s Day. "Dear Mother, here is the box of candy I bought you for Mother’s Day. IT IS VERY GOOD CANDY. I KNOW, BECAUSE I ALREADY AT 3 PIECES."

ILL.- Eight-year-old Carol also wrote her mother said, "DEAR MOTHER, HERE ARE 2 ASPIRINS. HAVE A HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY."

ILL.- Six-year-old Johnny and his four-year-old sister Suzy presented their mom with a Mother’s Day present; a small, spindly house plant. While it wasn’t the finest looking specimen, they had bought it with their own money and Mom was thrilled. She hugged and kissed her children and told them she loved them for thinking of her.

Johnny said, "There was some other flowers we wanted to buy for you, Mom, but we didn’t have enough money." "Yeah," said sister Suzy, "they had a real nice bunch of flowers at the shop that we were going to buy."

"But I love this plant," said the happy mother. "I know, Mom," said Johnny, "but these flowers would have been perfect for you. They were in a wreath and they had a ribbon that said ’REST IN PEACE’ on it AND YOU’RE ALWAYS ASKING FOR A LITTLE PEACE SO YOU CAN REST."

ILL.- A school teacher gave her class of second-graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day the teacher asked her students this question: "My name has six letters. The first one is ’m.’ I pick up things. What am I?"

When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was surprised to find that almost 50% of the students answered the question with the word "mother."

YES, MOTHERS DO PICK UP THINGS. Yes, they do pick up after their children and often, after their husbands.

But mothers are more than just "magnets," picking up after everyone in the house. They are many things.

PROP.- From Proverbs 31 I want to mention some things that mothers are or mothers do in order to honor them today.

1- Her hands work

2- Her mouth speaks

3- Her heart loves

I. HER HANDS WORK

ILL.- A boy got his first job. As he was boasting about the amount of work he did, he said, "I get up at 5 a.m. and have my breakfast." He was asked, "Does anyone else get up too?" He replied, "Oh yes, mother gets up and fixes my breakfast and then fixes dadâs breakfast."

"And what about your dinner?" The boy said, "Oh, mother, fixes that too."

"Does your mother have the afternoon to herself?" The boy replied, "No, mama cleans the house, looks after the other children, and then gets supper for me and dad when we come home. Then we watch TV before we go to bed."

"What about your mother? What does she do?" The boy replied, "Mama washes some clothes and irons the rest of the evening."

"Do you get paid?" "Of course, Dad and I get paid."

"And what about your mother, does she get paid too?"

The boy replied, "MOTHER, GET PAID?! MOTHER DON’T GET PAID. SHE DON’T DO NO WORK."

If anyone here today believes that moms don’t work, I would suggest that you’d better keep your mouth shut.

In this text, we see that mothers do all kinds of work.

- She sews v. 13, 19, 22 "She selects wool...and works with eager hands."

- She shops v. 14 "bringing her food from afar."

- She cooks v. 15 "She provides food for her family..."

- She gardens v. 16 "She plants a vineyard..."

Our text also says that mothers v. 15 "get up while it is still dark" to prepare food. And v. 18 "her lamp does not go out at night."

WHAT’S THAT OLD SAYING, "Man works from sun to sun, but woman’s work is never done."

v. 27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread idleness." She isn’t lazy.

ILL.- MAMA’S MAMA

Mama’s mama, on a winter’s day,

Milked the cows, and fed them hay.

Slopped the hogs, saddled the mule,

And got the children off to school.

Did a washing, mopped the floors,

Washed the windows and did some chores.

Cooked a dish of home-dried fruit,

Pressed her husband’s Sunday suit.

Swept the parlor, made the bed,

Baked a dozen loaves of bread.

Split some firewood, and lugged it in,

Enough to fill the kitchen bin.

Cleaned the lamps and put in oil,

Stewed some apples she thought might spoil.

Churned the butter, baked a cake,

Then exclaimed, "For mercy’s sake

"The calves have got out of the pen!"

Went out and chased them in again.

Gathered the eggs and locked the stables,

Returned to the house and set the table.