[540 words]
Mother’s Day can be a challenge for many. After all, some mothers do not want to be mothers but are one anyway. Some mothers have aborted their babies and regret it and others have disowned their children and do not care. Some women want to be mothers but for one reason or another cannot be one. Sometimes a woman becomes a mother and loves being one very much, but sometimes children are taken away from them by circumstances beyond their control or a child is lost to an early death.
Then there is the difficulty of children who want to honor their mother on Mother’s Day but because of abandonment, abuse, or even death this is not possible, because a mother is not there.
This reminds me of little Johnny who was only 4 years old when he brought a baby chicken to his father’s study. The chick had strayed from a neighbor’s farm. The father said, “John, take that chicken back to its mother. It has no mother, replied Johnny. Well, Johnny’s dad said well then take it back to his father. It has no father either, it has nothing but an old lamp.
An electrical lamp will hatch the egg and preserve the chick until it is old enough to face life, but that is about all. A child can sleep in a warm bed, receive nutritious meals, and nice clothing but still, fail to have the companionship and nurturing that only a mother can provide.
Regardless of the situation, Mother’s Day can be a challenging and difficult day for some. If Mother’s Day is a difficult day for you, let me point you to two passages of scriptures for some encouragement.
Notice Luke 8:19-21, “Then his mother and his brothers came to him [Jesus], but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
And then, Luke 11:27-28, “As he [Jesus] said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Did you notice that Jesus points to those who hear the word of God and do it as a true family! Now Jesus is not belittling his mother, after all the scriptures tell us nothing but good about Jesus’ mother, Mary. But Jesus understood that human mothers and families for that matter were limited, many of us know this often too well. But Jesus teaches us that those who hear the word of God and keep it, are truly family.
There are all kind of reasons why mothers, fathers, and children let us down and even disappoint us, but as Jesus teaches us those who hear the word of God and keep it will have a family better than any physical family can offer. In fact, we will even be blessed when we hear the word of God and do it.
Mark T. Tonkery
Camden Avenue church of Christ
Parkersburg, WV