INTRO.- ILL.- Did you hear about the oldest living mother? SAN AGUSTIN, El Salvador - Friends and relatives of Cruz Hernandez’s gathered Wednesday, May 3, 2006, to celebrate her 128th birthday, a milestone that might make her the world’s oldest person.
Hernandez, who relatives say spends most of her time dozing and no longer speaks, was surrounded by some 200 people at her party, some bearing a cake and others dressed as Salvadoran mythological heroes.
According to national records, Hernandez was born on May 3, 1878, in one of the country’s central provinces, where she gave birth to 13 children. She now has 60 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren and 25 great-great grandchildren.
Wow! What a mother! She surely must have led a good life and/or was blessed with good genes.
Can we even begin imagine what it was like for her to care for those 13 children back in the early 1900’s? I can’t imagine anything but all work and no play.
ILL.- It’s like something Dr. James Dobson told about in regard to his wife. He told 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 and had cried all day long.
Once, as she was changing his diapers, the telephone rang and Shirley reached over to answer it before fastening up his diapers. Just then Ryan had an attack of diarrhea.
She cleaned up that mess and put him in clean, sweet-smelling clothes. Then she took him into the living room and fed him. As she was burping him he threw up all over himself, and her, and 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?"
I’m sure many mothers have felt the same way.
ILL.- Did you hear about the oldest woman to give birth? A 63-year-old psychologist is set to become Britain’s oldest mother after undergoing fertility treatment.
I say, “good luck and God bless you!” You’re going to need all the help you can get!
Elaine has always said that the reason God doesn’t give babies to most women over 50 is because they are likely to put them down and then forget where they put them.
PROP.- Let’s consider two simple thoughts about mothers.
1- Her care
2- Her praise
I. HER CARE
I Thess. 2:6-7 “We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.”
The apostle Paul said he could have been tough as nails as an apostle but instead he chose to be like a mother, gentle and caring.
I think we all believe this is the way a mother should be: gentle and caring. They care for their families by cooking, washing clothes, cleaning, running errands, playing chauffeur, playing nurse, healing bruised feelings, etc.
If American mothers ever thought they had it hard, listen to this story about a mother in the Philippines.
ILL.- WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, MOTHERS GO HUNGRY. JOSEFINA Flores is only 40 years old, but she looks at least a decade older. Thin and gaunt, the mother of six seems in no condition to do even the least of her daily chores at her farm here in this mountainous area, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Cebu City.
But she does them all, and beginning at the crack of dawn until late evening, Josefina is in constant motion. She starts the day with a two-kilometer (mile and ¼ ) trek to fetch water, and continues on to cooking meals, gathering and selling firewood, making charcoal, cleaning the house, looking after the children and her husband, and seeing to it that everyone in the family has something to eat.
Of all her chores, it is the last that Josefina is finding hardest to do these days. Hunger is a familiar feeling in a community of nearly 400 families - as it is in many other poor farming communities elsewhere. But in this prolonged season of El Niño, the situation has gone from bad to worse, and there has been even less food here to go around. And the mothers, as usual, are having it toughest.
"Life has been hard," says Josefina. "But there must be something that my husband and children could eat. If there’s any left, then that’s what I eat." Wow!
We have known of mothers to go without certain things and perhaps a dessert so the kids could have it, but to go without food entirely for the rest of the family is a strong commitment for any mother!
Good mothers, godly mothers do care for their children. They cook, clean, and give loving care.
ILL.- I can still remember mother’s fried chicken and other dishes that I loved so well. Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, biscuits and gravy, etc.
I don’t ever remember going hungry. And I may have worn some dirty clothes, but that wasn’t mama’s fault. It was mine. She washed clothes, hung them out on the line to dry and then ironed at night.
I also remember splitting my head open a couple of times. And what did mama do? She took me to the doctor immediately and held my hand while I cried as the doctor sewed up the gash. A mother’s loving care.
What else did our mama’s do?
I Tim. 1:3-5 “I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
Timothy’s faith came from his mother and prior to that, his grandmother. We also want to remember our mothers for their faith, which they handed down to us.
I know that in my family if it hadn’t been for mother we might not have gone to church and come to know Christ as Savior. Thank God that we had a mother who believed in Christ and took us to Sunday School and church.
Can you imagine how sad and sinful a home would be with no Christ, no church, no Christian teaching, no mother’s prayers and guidance?
ILL.- One young preacher who just lost his mother in death, wrote: “I can remember that nearly every night mother had a family time. She would read a Bible story, and get us all on our knees afterward and pray for each of us by name. She also loved to read and mark up her Bible.”
What a great blessing his mother was! Many of you experienced something similar through your mother’s Christian life. Thank God for her loving care and godly example.
II. HER PRAISE
Prov. 31:28 “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.”
We’re here today to remember our mothers and praise them for all the good they’ve done in life.
I realize that not all mothers, however, have been good. I can’t begin to imagine what kind of mother the infamous, atheist, Madalyn Murry O’Hair was to her children. In any interview I ever saw of her, she was a hateful, spiteful acting woman. What a horrendous mother she must have been! I’m sure that her children never called her “blessed.”
Today, we need to be thankful for our mothers and for all the love and good they showered on us. They were perhaps not perfect but maybe better than we deserved.
Here are some quotes of praise:
- "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
- "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her." -- George Washington (1732-1799)
- "There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness. The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way." -- Andrew Jackson
- "In all my efforts to learn to read, my mother shared fully my ambition and sympathized with me and aided me in every way she could. If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother."-- Booker T. Washington
If you were to write a tribute of praise to your mother, what would you write?
I know one thing I would write: “Thanks, Mom, for loving me when I was so unlovable. Thanks for loving me when I didn’t deserve it.” That’s something a good mother does.
How do you praise a mother? With your mouth. With words of gratitude and words of love. With deeds of gratitude. With our constant remembrance. With gifts of love.
ILL.- When my mother’s Parkinson’s disease got the best of her, I often called her 5 times a day to check on her. We would only talk a minute but I believed that she deserved my attention. If I couldn’t contact her then I knew something had happened and I would call a neighbor to check on her.
When mother went into the nursing home I still called her every day and went to see her every month for three days at a time. I DON’T REGRET ONE GOOD THING THAT I DID FOR HER. But we often regret what we don’t say and what we don’t do. And once she is gone, we can do no more.
Brothers and sisters, don’t miss a chance to show your love to your mother in any form, any time. As we have opportunity let us do good to all people, ESPECIALLY TO OUR MOTHERS!
