Saturday, May 7, 2016



An Ode to Mothers



Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I want to be the one to walk in the sun...”

-Cyndi Lauper


Mother's Day is tomorrow. We all know Mother's Day is more important than Father's Day. It just is. But why? Well there's many reasons we could go over, women give birth to our children, women are more nurturing, women work harder, women are under-appreciated, women are paid less, etc….

But the reason Mother's Day stands out to me is due to the large role women have played in my own life. My own mother worked harder than I have ever worked, she also worked harder than my dad ever worked. And my dad was no slouch at working hard so that's not what I'm implying. My mom worked hard all day and raised 4 boys, cooked, cleaned and tried to follow Jesus through all of it. She did pretty well. She volunteered at church, she tried to go to our basketball games, our plays, all our extra events that she didn't have time for. She didn't get a lot of sleep and she didn't have much of a social life. A mother's life is tougher than any job you will ever apply for.

Many of my Sunday School teachers and school teachers were women, they were mother figures to me. They were compassionate, strict, thoughtful and the image bearers of Jesus to me. I had a few teachers at church and school who were men but only a few turned out to be worth a pinch of salt.

My best help in the ministry, when I was serving as a pastor to youth and children at various places, was always women. I rarely had men step up and volunteer in the churches I served at, or when they did it was always after their wives or girlfriends volunteered first. I always saw (and still see) most of the ministry positions filled with women and not men. Women step up and fill the nursery, the Sunday School, the kitchen, the volunteer list, the clean up list. Moms and soon to be moms are the first to cash in their volunteer chips.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are the most giving people I know. They have worked full- time jobs during the day and also come home to clean, cook, nurture and love their families and other people in the community. Would to God that I could say I have given half as much of my time and energy as they have, but I haven't. They draw from a deeper well.

My wife. She works all day with kids. Have you ever been around kids for a long period of time? Oh, it's fun and cute for about 5 minutes. Then you start feeling as if you need to be medicated. She does it every day. And she does a great job. Kids love her. Our kids love her, I love her. She comes home and loves me, loves our children and feels as if she doesn't do enough. But she does, she does more than I think about doing.

I could go on and on but suffice to say, mothers are a special gift. I have so many women in my life that display Christ for me and that is what I am thankful for this Mother's Day.


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