Mother's Day

Speaking of Bunny (chocolate powder for milk), one of my favorite mom stories ever, is hearing how my mom was in the kitchen, but stepped away for a minute only to find a chocolate-powder-covered kitchen.  Every mom knows what that feels like.  Wait!  Every parent knows what that feels like.  Wait!  Anyone who has ever watched any kid knows what that feels like.

            Some people are afraid to talk about Mother’s Day because of the offense it could cause with those who don’t have kids, or those who have never been married. We like to make Mother’s Day out to be this beautiful pastel day where we give our mothers really great gifts.

            I remember Mother’s Day involving last minute shopping, and a day when my mom didn’t cook.  This meant we ate at a restaurant, or had food delivered because my dad was trying to give my mom a break.  This resulted in disheveled looking kids, who were encouraged to leave mom alone on this special day.  But I also remember different Mother’s Days when all of my brothers and sisters showed how much they loved my mom by the true depth of their intentions and actions.  One thing that Mother’s Day permits is that it allows us to recognize the scope of the work involved by the people who took care of us. 

            Every person was once a baby:  Barack Obama, David Freese, Harrison Ford, and even the oldest members of our church.  God created us as babies who grew into little children, and from the very beginning, with every step of life, we needed someone to guide and direct us.

            Mother’s Day is the celebration of the vocation, the job of caring for those who need our care.  God provides us with different gifts, and we all have different techniques for caring for others.  Today’s celebration is all about the unique gifts of caring for our loved ones.  As believers we stand, appreciating the depth of that commitment and responsibility.  God calls us into action to care for those He has given us.

            He also wants us to acknowledge and thank those who cared for us.  One of the ways God provides for us daily is that He allows those people to be in our lives.  It is always hard to believe that we go from needing someone to take care of our needs in the beginning of life, to often having that happen at the end of life.  It is one of the hardest things for people to accept.  As a pastor I see it all the time, but yet in the true understanding of the Body of Christ, it means that our roles change often. We go from needing someone to care for us, to caring for others, to going back to needing someone to care for us.  It is a wonderful thing that reminds us of the vocation or calling God gives us during certain seasons of life.  It also helps us recognize how much Jesus loves us; not only would He come to rescue us, but He also would provide people to continue that care in our lives.

            On Mother’s Day we explore the various levels of vocation, care, concern, and love for others.  We all can thank God for our mothers, and ask God how those experiences taught us about our care and concern for others.  And we pray that God would continue to guide us in our extraordinary servant love for those in our lives.