Mothers Are Special

Mother's Day is Sunday. It is a day that we celebrate those who give us life.

In over thirty years of ministry, I have only had one person complain about celebrating Mother's Day in the church. It seems that this young lady was not blessed with the love of her mother. Then due to no fault of her own, she was unable to have children. It seemed to me that this day reminded her of too many scars and disappointments in life.

Mother's Days can be like that. Some Mothers will look through the lens of regret. They will see all the things they failed to do or failed in doing. The failures of their children will be personal failures. These mothers will continue to ride on the roller coaster of shoulda, coulda, wooulda which never stops. Their thirst for life will be consumed by the water that comes from the river of bitterness. One woman at the end of the celebration of Mother's Day found herself weeping hope that she would fall asleep quickly.

Then there are those who will celebrate Mother's Day. They realize that Moms are special! No they are not perfect. They are human. Moms know too well the meals that have to be cooked, the clothes washed, the trips to all the many places, and the list goes on. But on this day, the "red Super Woman Cape" will rest. Moms will be awakened by a breakfast that is fixed with little hands. The roses and gifts from husbands might not be exactly perfect but heartwarming. The telephone calls will come from across the world to moms, stepmoms, grandmas, and sometimes even adopted moms. At the end of this day, there might be tears—but they are tears of joy.

Moms are one of the special gifts of God. Sometimes we realize this "too late". Sometimes we let the moments pass too quickly and too quietly.

One Mother's Day I woke Mandy up and we went out to eat breakfast. I was serving at Centenary College so I did not have to preach anywhere that Sunday. As we ate breakfast, I saw an elderly lady come into the restaurant alone. As she ate, it just seemed that there was sadness about her. As I paid my ticket I asked her waitress to include her breakfast on my tab. As the waitress added it on, she said, "This is a wonderful gift that you do not realize you are giving." I looked at her with a puzzled face. Then she finished the story. Her husband died last week. Her children are all away. She just told me that this was her first Mother's Day breakfast that she was going to have to buy for herself!"

Mothers are special. Make sure you do what you can to celebrate Mother's Day.