The Power of a Mom
A story is told of a small picture perfect community nestled on a beautiful lake. This lake was fed by a small brook on the side of a mountain. For years the townspeople paid a man a small wage to tend to the brook. -To watch over it and to clean it out. For many years the town kept this special arrangement. But as the beauty of the lake began to draw more people and the town began to grow. The town’s leaders began to question why they paid a man to tend to the brook. The town was growing so couldn’t they allocate the town’s money better than paying a man just to tend to a small brook.
Eventually the town decided to send their special arrangement with the man. At first all went well the town continue to grow- the beauty of the lake drawing many people. But slowly the lake began to change. Trash began to collect on its surface and a green film emerged from its sides. The lake began to accrue an awful stench that repulsed every nose. The once beautiful lake was now an eyesore.
Without the effort of the keeper of the lake- the man who watched over and cleaned the brook that fed the lake, its beauty soon faded away.
In our world today it is the mom, it is our mother’s who are the keepers of the lake. They perform a service that many ignore, and other’s question. And yet without them where would we be.
This morning as we honor our moms. Let us ask the most basic of question; what or rather who is a mother.
In response to this question listen to few possible answers.
A Junior High science teacher lectured on the properties of magnets for an entire class. The next day he gave his students a quiz. The first question read like this: “My name begins with an “M,” has six letters, and I pick things up. What am I?” Half the kids in the class wrote, “Mother.”
Or how about this one…A father was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us?
Listen to what some famous philosophers had to say about mothers…Ralph Waldo Emerson has said, “Men are what their mothers make them” and an old Spanish proverb says, “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.”
The Bible is also full of answers and examples to our question: What is a Mother? But this morning I would like to focus upon Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel.
Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 1 beginning in verse 9
In our passage we are able to glean several important truths about motherhood.
First -A Mother is one who prays…
1 Samuel 1:9-17
For many years Hannah was barren… In a society where the value of a woman was determined by having children,,, Hannah had little value… But at her lowest point… She goes into the temple and prays so earnestly that the priest Eli thinks she is drunk.
A mother prays to have a child, she prays for a healthy baby to be born, A mom prays all throughout that child’s life. In fact a mom never stops praying.
In my own life one thing I could always bank on is that my mom prayed for me every day. Over the last three years with my own family I have seen first hand the prayers of a mother. So much in life is so unpredictable. As parents, as moms, you can only do so much and then you must place it in the hands of God.
Second- A mother is one who perseveres
1 Samuel 1:21-23
Hannah put everything in her life on hold and made her child her top priority.
James Dobson tells about a time he came home when his son, Ryan, was a small baby. It had been a terrible day for his wife. Ryan had been sick, & had cried all day long. Once, as she was changing his diapers, the telephone rang & Shirley reached over to answer it before fastening up his diapers. Just then Ryan had an attack of diarrhea.
She cleaned up that mess & put him in clean, sweet-smelling clothes. Then she took him into the living room & fed him. As she was burping him he threw up all over himself, & her, & the couch, too.
Dobson writes, "When I came home I could smell the aroma of motherhood everywhere." Shirley cried out to him, "Was all of this in my contract?"
Another mom recalls very clearly how she gave her two-year-old son, Steve, his very first responsibility. She told Steve to watch Susan, his baby sister, while she stepped out of the room. She had only been gone a few moments when she heard a thump, & then Susan started crying.
She rushed back in to find that Susan had fallen from the couch & was stretched out on the floor. Meanwhile, Steve sat there, looking so innocent.
The mom said, "Steve, I told you to watch her." Steve answered, "I did." He watched her fall & he watched her cry. He did exactly what he was told to do.
What is a mom? A mom is one who puts herself, her wants, hers desires, her dreams aside to best take care of her son or daughter.
One who perseveres morning noon and night…
Finally a mother is one who constantly loves and cares…
One of my favorite columns by Erma Bombeck tells of God in the act of creating mothers. She says that on the day God created mothers He had already worked long overtime. And an angel said to Him, "Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one."
The Lord turned & said, "Have you read the specs on this model? She is supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic. She is to have 180 moving parts, all of them replaceable. She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. She is to have a lap that will disappear whenever she stands up. She is to be able to function on black coffee & leftovers. And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands."
"Six pairs of hands," said the angel, "that’s impossible." "It’s not the six pairs of hands that bother me." said the Lord, "It’s the three pairs of eyes. She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’ she already knows what they’re doing in there."
"She has another pair in the back of her head to see all the things she is not supposed to see but must see. And then she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that just goofed & communicate love & understanding without saying a word."
"That’s too much." said the angel, "You can’t put that much in one model. Why don’t you rest for a while & resume your creating tomorrow?"
"No, I can’t," said the Lord. "I’m close to creating someone very much like myself. I’ve already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick - who can feed a family of six with one pound of hamburger - & who can persuade a nine year old to take a shower."
Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely & said, "She’s too soft." "Oh, but she is tough," said the Lord. "You’d be surprised at how much this mother can do."
"Can she think?" asked the angel. "Not only can she think," said the Lord, "but she can reason & compromise & persuade."
Then the angel reached over & touched her cheek. "This one has a leak," he said. "I told you that you couldn’t put that much in one model." "That’s not a leak," said the Lord. "That’s a tear."
"What’s a tear for?" asked the angel. "Well it’s for joy, for sadness, for sorrow, for disappointment, for pride." "You’re a genius," said the angel. And the Lord said, "Oh, but I didn’t put it there."
