Sunita and her family came home yesterday. Jessica and Tom also came last night. Laureen also did come. They all came for Jessica's baby shower today. They will be celebrating Mother's Day with their mom tomorrow for the last time in the parsonage here. I am planning to make a mega barbecue . All is good. All is a blessing.
This is for my friends over seas tomorrow: the second Sunday is celebrated as the Mother's Day here in America the beautiful. Mother’s Day is that special day that comes around once a year when our attention rightly focuses on our moms. I was deeply blessed to have a godly and praying mom in my life. She told me the story of Hannah and her son Samuel. I listened with great interest and deep intensity. I stlll rememember her story told to me Mothers play a very significant role in a person’s development. They are game changers one way or another. There is not always a direct correlation, but godly people refer frequently to the influence of having a godly mother. Samuel had a godly mother. The fact is mothers have had a huge impact on the world. John Wesley credits his mother for his spiritual formation and passion for Christ. That experience could be told time and again. A mother plays a primary role in molding and shaping the lives of countless people. Mothers matter when they are committed to God and prayer. Even in her deepest anguish, Hannah was committed to God and prayer (v. 1:10). Her heartfelt pain and shame was that she had no children. On top of this, she had to endure the daily taunting of Peninnah mocking her barenness, particularly when they went to the house of the Lord each year. The mocking continued when she arrived at the temple to pray as Eli, the priest, accused her of being drunk (vv. 1:21-28). Nevertheless, she continued to pray earnestly, humbly trusting and persevering in God. God heard the mother with a humble and contrite heart.
Mothers matter when they commit their children to the Lord. We live in a world of entitlement and self-determinism. We believe it is our right to possess and determine how something or someone is used. This is a far cry from the biblical position of seeing all things as gifts to us from God and that we are to submit to God’s will in how we live and how we determine how something is used or how others are to live their lives. Hannah understood this. She recognized that Samuel was not hers but belonged to God. He was on loan to her from God. The Lord’s will for Samuel took precedence over her own desires for her child.
Mothers matter because they bless our lives. Some of you are mothers with an empty nest, and your children have started their own families. You are still their mother. I believe the key is blessing. Bless your children and your children’s children. This is a time to bless your children and encourage them in the hard stuff of life.
The fifth
commandment, “Honor your mother so that you may live long in the land,” does not
have a time limit or expiration date. It is for life. Jesus said those who
humble themselves will be exalted, and those who exalt themselves will be
humbled. It remains our task to humble ourselves before our parents to serve
them, to be patient with them because it takes them more time to do things than
before, to be gracious to them by empowering them to do things for themselves
and others.
They are
at that stage in life when they need purpose. Mothers never stop being mothers.
It is in their DNA to serve just as it is in their Lord’s. Their role has
changed, but their desire has not.
In
Christ,
Brown
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