to the moms

Our church honored moms so well today.

Mother's Day services are risky, I think.  They can be cliche, or obligatory, or unoriginal.  They can open wounds of ...

... the women who want so much to be moms, but aren't

... the children who have lousy moms and wish for better

... the people who are mourning the loss of their moms, whether that happened last week or 25 years ago

... the moms who've buried their children.

Risky, those days of honoring moms.

On the other hand, everyone has a mom, and in the eternal perspective of a sovereign God, that means there's something we can all learn from our moms.

I loved learning about Jesus's mom today.  I forget that when Mary gave birth to Jesus, she was likely between twelve and fifteen years old.  Can you even fathom?

She went on to raise three boys, and despite the supernatural anointing of her eldest, she still wrestled and worried just like any mom would.

Great moms are notorious for making sacrifices, almost to a fault, but Mary?  What pain she must have felt, when she released her child to the brutality he endured to fulfill the will of God.

A friend's mom once told me that letting go of her children -- that is, watching them grow up and become independent -- was far more gut-wrenching than any physical pains from child birth.

I imagine that of all the moms who can relate, Mary's calling to embrace her son's calling was a challenge not many could withstand.

When I watch Katie as a new mom to Little Man, I know she's only begun this epic journey of provision and guidance.  She loses sleep, and puts another's needs above her own.  She feeds and changes and teaches and protects.  She says no to things she wants to do, because she wants more for her son to get her best.

It's never over.

I'm one of the lucky ones, who has a mom that died to herself just like that for a lot of years, and who continues to joyfully make sacrifices for her kids every day.

I hope today you have a chance to say thanks to a mom who's shown you that kind of love somewhere, some how.  The world is better with those moms in it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in my life who model for me the love of Christ in such tangible ways.  Be blessed!