MOTHER - Job Description
POSITION TITLE :
Mom, Mama, Mommy, Mother
JOB DESCRIPTION :
Candidates must be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed.
RESPONSIBILITIES :
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to be indispensable one minute and an embarrassment the next.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.
POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION :
Virtually none. You will remain in the same position for years, without complaining.
WAGES AND COMPENSATION :
You pay those under your care and offer them frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left.
Note: This job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.
Mother’s Day is kind of a mixed bag. I always come to it with a bit of fear and trembling. I’m never sure exactly how to handle it because I know that there are all kinds of different people who will be present.
If you have experienced the death of your mother, this could be a day of remembrance, mourning and grieving as you remember her, thinking of how much you miss her and how much you would like to talk to her again.
If you’re childless, you may feel empty and, perhaps, unfilled. If you had a poor relationship with your mother, you may feel a bit guilty and wish somehow you could undo that. But it may be too late.
Here’s the good news: If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. Old things have passed away and new things have come. Because of Jesus Christ, we can grow. Our family life doesn’t have to stay the same. There’s hope!
This week I was reminded of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Can you name ‘em? There’s the great pyramid of Giza, the hanging gardens of Babylon, and the lighthouse of Alexandria.
But I want us to think about another kind of wonder today.
Seven wonders of a woman’s world
Series: A home that runs
Text: Selected
Today, we’re beginning a new 6 week series: A Home that Runs.
Honing your parenting skills
Building a stronger marriage
Leaving home and letting go
Meeting your spouse’s needs
Keys to great communication
A father’s legacy
I’m using this word “wonder” as a verb in this title. As a verb, wonder is used in two ways. 1) Wonder: to be affected or filled with surprise; to marvel. That’s the way it’s used in the title “Seven wonders of the ancient world. 2) Wonder: to have a feeling of doubt and strong curiosity. It’s the second way that we are using the word today.
All of us, men and women, have doubts about how well we are doing in this world. This week, I tried to think through some of the significant doubts that a woman might have. I put some things down on paper and ran them by the women on staff at CVCC and by my wife, Maryanne. So, if this message doesn’t work for you, you can talk to Maryanne about it!
Here are seven “I wonder ifs” and some answers from scripture.
Seven wonders of a woman’s world…
#1. I wonder if I’m leading the right way and making right choices.
Maybe you’ve read lots of books and gone to tons of seminars of parenting. You think you ought to know how to do this deal. But deep inside, I’m betting you sometimes feel frustrated, afraid, and alone.
Mothers and fathers alike recognize as we send our children off in the morning all kinds of things can hurt them – things like drugs and gangs and alcohol and pornography. And kids have to be strong if they are going to overcome all that.
In the past, our educational system encouraged development of Christian principles and attitudes. But today that is not necessarily true. Too often, children are being taught that there are no absolute standards of right and wrong. Anything goes and everything is OK, as long as it feels good.
When God places a child or children in your arms, His will for you is to bring them up in a home where they will know God, know His word, and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
But how do I do that? If you are confused, then you really might be the best kind of parent. The parents who are often not sure what to do who find themselves in the best position to become godly parents. Why? Because then, you’ll be turning to God!
I’m searching for direction.
Many parents desperately look to church youth groups and Christian schools to do for them that which they feel too confused to do on their own—raise their children successfully.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5, 6
I was recently listening to Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, speaking to a group of businessmen and women. He asked them to ask themselves three questions to help them influence people for Christ in the marketplace. It suddenly dawned on me that these are three questions any mom, or dad for that matter, could ask at the beginning and at the end of each day to help them influence kids for Christ.
Is the Lord well-pleased?
Is God pleased with the way I am training and teaching my children? Is my parenting pleasing to God?
Is the work well-done?
Is the word well-used?
Because I wonder if I’m leading the right way, I’m searching for direction.
#2. I wonder how I can keep on going with so many roles to play.
Someone said: “The quickest way for a mother to get the attention of her children is to sit down and look comfortable.”
Another said: “Mothers can have a few minutes to themselves at the end of the day by doing the dishes.”
A mother can sew the tiniest stitch in the material for that dainty prom dress and she can thread through the heaviest traffic in an SUV.
A mother has the fascinating ability to be almost everywhere at once and she alone can somehow squeeze and enormous amount of living into an average day.
So many roles to play!
I’m looking for strength to take another step.
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
You don’t have to do this alone. Cultivate the habit of seeking help from God moment-by-moment! Do your day with God – everyday!
Because I wonder how I can keep on going, I’m looking for strength.
#3. I wonder how my family is processing my sin.
I’m seeking forgiveness for my failures.
Are you an example of how to seek forgiveness when you’ve been wrong. Can you admit it and will you admit it and ask for forgiveness like you want your kids to?
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
Proverbs 28:13
Because I wonder how my family is processing my sin, I’m seeking forgiveness.
#4. I wonder if my family members actually see Christ in me.
You are like Christ when your kids know without a doubt that you’re “in their corner.”
You are like Christ when your kids know that whatever course of action you take in their lives – whether they see it as good or bad – is because you truly want to see them flourish.
You are like Christ when your kids know that you’re bathing them in prayer on a regular basis – truly holding them up to God for all areas of their lives.
You are like Christ when your kids know that your love for them is as unconditional. That whatever they do, wherever they are, whoever they marry...your love for them cannot change… except to grow more.
I’m wanting to be an example.
God is more concerned with the maturity level of parents than of their children.
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
I Corinthians 11:1
Because I wonder if my family sees Christ in me, I’m wanting to be an example.
#5. I wonder how to handle my family not turning out “right.”
People at work hold you in high esteem. But do you came home each day to face only disdain and disrespect from your children?
It seems that one of God’s favorite methods for introducing disruption, doubt, and confusion into people’s lives is through their children.
It was pastor John Piper who wrote, “To be a mother is a call to suffer. Not just at the beginning of life, but also at the end… Mothers suffer when their children are born. Mothers suffer when children leave… Mothers suffer when their children die. [And] mothers suffer when their children are foolish. “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother” (Proverbs 10:1). To be a mother is a call to suffer. Yes, it’s more! But it’s not less.
I need hope.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Hebrews 11:1, 6
Question: what does faith look like? It’s not faith if everything is going your way. You can’t build a testimony without a test.
Yesterday, I was using the Valley of Vision to help me formulate my prayers.
Help me to see how good Your will is in all, and even when Your will crosses mine teach me to be pleased with it.
Help me to feel You in every providence and to see that Your many gifts are just Your hands and fingers taking hold of me.
You are the bottomless fountain of all good. So, I given myself to You, for all I have of own is Yours – my goods, family, self – to do with are You will.
If it is consistent with Your eternal counsels, the purpose of Your grace, and the great ends of Your glory, then give to me the blessings of Your comforts; if not, let me resign myself to Your wise determinations.
One parent said this: “You know, I’m starting to understand at least part of the reason why God has given me the children He has. They’re tough kids, but God knew I needed tough kids. Before they came along, I thought I had it made. In regular surgeon-style, I had everything sewn up. So much so that I really did not practically need God. When my kids began to bleed, in a manner of speaking, I went to work to sew them up too. But nothing I did worked. It was the first time that my mind and my skills were not enough.
“I still have no idea how my kids will turn out, but I’ve begun to trust the Lord for strength and wisdom to love these kids in ways I never knew possible. My confusion drove me to the Lord. And that experience has been the richest experience I’ve ever known. Something has really shifted inside. I can honestly thank God for the kids He’s given me.”
Because I wonder how to handle my family not turning out “right”, I need hope.
#6. I wonder if my contribution to my family is truly appreciated.
I’m looking for some heart-felt “thank yous.”
Mother’s day is traditionally the day when children give something back to their mothers for all the spit they produce to wash dirty faces, all the old gum they held in their hands, all the noses they wipe, and all the bloody knees they “made well” with a kiss. This is the day mothers are rewarded for washing all those sheets in the middle of the night, driving kids to school when they missed the bus, and enduring all the football games in the rain. It’s appreciation day for making your children finish something they said they couldn’t do, not believing them when they said, “I hate you,” and sharing their good times and their bad times. Their cards probably won’t reflect it, but what they are trying to say is, “Thank you for showing up.”
Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.”
Proverbs 31:28, 29
Since God made the world and is at work in it, it is possible to praise Him indirectly by praising something he made or praising something that exalts Him. If you say something nice about our three sons, Maryanne and I feel honored. And that’s the way it is with God.
And saying “thank you” strengthens women.
There are always temptations that allure us away from God and we all need encouragement from time to time. We all need to hear a saintly person say, "You’re doing a great job." When you praise the godly women in your life, you are strengthening their walk in the Lord.
Teenagers and children, God forbid this to happen, but suppose your mom was killed in a car wreck this afternoon and you had to go to her funeral on Wednesday. What would you wish on Wednesday you had told her today? Tell her before today is up.
And what about you husbands? You know what I would say if I lost my wife this week? "Why did I get upset over such stupid little things? Why didn’t I encourage her more? Why didn’t I build her up and let her know how much I love and appreciate her?" O how we need to live in the light of our dying! Death puts everything in perspective!
#7. I wonder how I will be remembered.
Billy Graham’s mother said concerning mother’s day, that she didn’t want to be congratulated. But she wanted it to be a day of soul-searching in her life that she might gain a new awareness of the role that God had given her.
I’m seeking to be a Proverbs 31 woman.
What kind of legacy are you leaving? If you think the answer to that question might not be a good one, then you still have time to do something about it.
What is your legacy? Look at your children… and their children. Are they dedicated to money, leisure, and destructive relationships? If so, then not so good. They are reflecting your values, no matter how much you speak about eternal truths.
If, on the other hand, they are dedicated to sharing the gospel, to seeing our nation and world grow in righteousness, holiness, and truth, then good. You have been teaching your children and their children correctly, biblically.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:30,31
Challenging? You bet! But a mom in our church wrote to me this week, “Come on ladies...moms...all parents...parenting and life in general definitely isn’t for the faint of heart.” Another wrote to me, “How can I do better?”
* * *
The story is told - out of WW 2 and the holocaust that took the lives of millions of people - of Solomon Rosenberg and his family. It is a true story.
Solomon Rosenberg and his wife and their 2 sons and his mother and father were arrested & placed in a Nazi concentration camp. It was a labor camp, and the rules were simple. “As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you are exterminated.”
Rosenberg watched his mother and father marched off to their deaths, and he knew that next would be his youngest son, David, because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of labor and searched for the faces of his wife and two sons. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another, and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces. He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping, and praying. He said, “Josh, tell me it’s not true.” Joshua turned and said, “It is true, poppa. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him.”
“But where is your mother?” asked Mr. Rosenberg. “Oh poppa,” he said, “When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried. Momma said, ‘There is nothing to be afraid of, David,’ and she took his hand and went with him.”
* * *
If you answer all these “I wonders” in the right way – if your life is ruled by Christ – then I firmly believe that your life and family will be one of the “wonders of the world” – a true marvel to a watching world.
