Sunday is Mother’s Day. A day set aside for us to honor our mothers and to acknowledge the influence they have had in our lives. It is because of the faithful Christian life of my mother that I am a Christian today. She passed away seventeen years ago in March. It has been seventeen years since I have heard her laugh. It has been seventeen years since I have felt her hug. It has been seventeen years since I have heard her say, “Drive safe and call us when you get there.” It has been seventeen years since I have heard my mother pray. A phrase she always included in her prayers was, “Keep us in a place where Thou canst use us” (Mom prayed in King James English). Mom was happiest when she had a lap full of grandkids.
As a dad, Mother’s Day is a day to honor my wife and acknowledge the influence she has had on our own children. She stayed at home with them until our youngest started kindergarten. She nurtured in them a love for reading and a love for God. The intelligence level of children is determined by their mother. That is why all of mine are so smart.
Thinking of Mother’s Day, I think of the responsibility Mary had as the mother of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke we learn of her humble acceptance of the announcement that she was to be the mother of the Messiah and the grueling trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem when she was nine months pregnant. We learn of her giving birth to the Savior in a barn, wrapping Him in cloths and laying Him in a manger. At the end of Luke chapter two we learn that she and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem for the festival and Jesus was separated from them for three days. Can you imagine what it must have been like to realize you were responsible for losing the Messiah? When they found Him, he was in the Temple impressing the religious teachers with His knowledge .As parents it is important for us to know where our children are even on line.
Mother’s Day reminds us of the great responsibility we have as parents for the physical, emotional, and spiritual development of our children. In our time of staying at home let us use our added time with our children intentionally sharing our faith. As one of my favorite songs says, “As those who’ve gone before us let us leave to those behind us the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives. Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.” Happy Mother’s Day!!!
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