Will The Real Mothers Please Stand Up?!

INTRODUCTION:

(1) Today, all over the world, people are celebrating Mother’s Day. If it is not today, almost everywhere, there is a day like it somewhere in the calendar. A youth pastors list on the internet surveyed its international readers about Mother’s Day to discover if it existed and when it was celebrated if it does exist in other countries. Here is a summary of what was found.

Wow, this series has really brought out the intercontinental nature of this lil’ humor list! Here’s an update on what countries are celebrating Mother’s Day [and the name(s) of the folks who informed me]:

~ "In the Netherlands we also celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday." [Jacco, Tom, Jan]

~ "Mother’s Day is celebrated also here in Finland now Sunday 12th of May." [Marika]

~ "Mothers day is also celebrated in Germany, and as far as I know in most European countries this Sunday." [Johannes, Corrie]

~ "I’m pretty sure that most of Latin America celebrates Mother’s day this Sunday. At least in here in Brazil it is for sure." [Daniel, Renato]

~ "Last Sunday, May 5th, Mother’s Day was celebrated in Spain." [Steve]

~ "Mothers day is also celebrated in South Africa on Sunday 12th." [Lew, Deb, Francois]

~ "Hello, I just wanted to let you know that Mexico’s Mother’s Day is this Friday the 10th of May." [Zayra]

~ "Here in Uruguay (South America- South Cone) we are going to celebrate Mom’s Day next Sunday, too." [Jorge]

~ "You can add Ecuador to the list because it is celebrated this Sunday here too." [Allen]

~ "It’s also celebrated in Europe, like in Austria where I am from." [Claudia]

~ "We celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday too in Singapore!" [Sally]

~ "We also celebrate Mother’s Day here in the Philippines and in our church at Asbury United Methodist we give tributes to our dear mothers." [Beth]

~ "In Costa Rica Mother’s Day is celebrated in the middle of August." [Vicki, Ron]

~ "In Slovakia, we celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday as well!" [Kelly ’n Linda]

~ "We celebrate Mother’s Day on Dec 22 in Indonesia." [Ira]

~ "Mother’s day is also celebrated here in Malaysia." [Scott]

~ "Mother’s day is celebrated on this sunday in Japan too!" [Ayasn]

And this jewel from WAY down under:

~ "If I’m not mistaken, we celebrate Mother’s Day in Antarctica this Sunday also, of course no mothers are stupid enough to come and live down here. Gifts such as sno-cones, ice makers, ice-scrapers, and ice cream are the usual, however, the gift that gives year round down here is the ice sculpture (those things just don’t melt, we must have at least 20 of them lying around the igloo). Any form of warm covering is also much appreciated. Thanks Moms for all you’ve done and continue to do!!!" [James, Gatesville, Antarctica (Texas)]

(2) The same communication supplies this insightful question: If mother always knows best, what happens when two mothers disagree? – Mikey’s Thot for the Day. Today’s text, suggests that knowing who is the real mother may be helpful in the scenario where two mothers disagree.

There used to be an old game show on TV called, “To Tell the Truth.” The game involved three contestants appearing before a panel of celebrities and all three would claim to be the same person. Only one was in fact the real contestant. The panel would interrogate them and try to guess which of the three was indeed who he claimed to be. After time had elapsed, the show’s host would ask if the real contestant “would please stand up.” After a series of false starts from each of the contestants, the real one would finally identify himself.

(3) In one of the defining moments of the reign of Solomon, the wise king had to identify the real mother in a very tricky dispute over a living child. He got the real mother to identify herself by forcing her to take a stand. When she stood up for her child, she showed herself to be the true mother. In threatening moments that endanger her child, the love of a mother will search for the wisdom of justice.

PROPOSITION: WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN, REAL MOTHERS STAND UP.

Here are Three morals about true-to-life motherhood.

I. Mothers do not have to be PERFECT (1 Kings 3:16-20).

A. Real mothers are not perfect partially because they are not prepared to be mothers. Women in the best of circumstances are not prepared for motherhood when they find themselves in it. When my wife, Debbie, and I began to think about starting our family 21 years ago, we went through some soul-searching. There were natural questions about our readiness to be parents. Looking back on it, we were not “ready” and I doubt if anyone ever really is. The fact is, however, we have a family now – with five children. God does it that way. He gives us the wherewithal to accomplish what we are not qualified to do. Real mothers do not have to be perfect. They do, however, have to stand up when the chips are down. If we must be fully experienced for whatever we may encounter, we will never be ready for anything requiring responsible interaction. One can study all there is to study about being a mother, and the truth will remain that she is not ready until she is in the process. To borrow another metaphor from a wise children’s church coordinator, “We cannot learn to swim if we will not get into the water.”