Mother's Day Musings

I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorite moms from the Bible.  The first, a heroine of mine for over 30 years, is Hannah.  I identified with her struggle of barrenness.  Her earnest prayers were an example for me to follow as I waited on the Lord.  Then when God blessed her with a son, Samuel, she gave him to serve the Lord his whole life, which is what we all, as mothers, should aspire to do.  Her sacrifice was very real...she would only get to visit him once a year, bringing garments that she had made.  What an example of faith and sacrifice!  One of my favorite quotes was uttered by her:  1Sa 1:27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

The other is Mary, the mother of our Saviour.  Can you imagine the faith it would take to hear the message delivered to her by the angel of the Lord?  She would have to bear the whisperings and rejection of those around her by being with child before marriage.  Then she would be responsible for nurturing and training up the Son of God!  What was her response?  Lu 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.   Then imagine what it would have been like to hold this special baby in her arms and watch Him grow into adulthood.  We are told by the gospel of Luke how she pondered and kept all those things in her heart.

Isn't that what all of us, as mothers, do?  We watch our children grow and are amazed at their sweetness, their energy, their enthusiasm, their intelligence, their talent...the list goes on and on.  And we keep all those things in our hearts...to be remembered and cherished.  We pull them out from time to time and smile or weep as we relive their joys and triumphs, as well as their pains and struggles.  We ponder about how their lives will unfold, about the mistakes we made along the way and how they will effect our children over the course of their lives, about the miracle of being allowed the awesome responsibility of being entrusted with the care and training of these amazing creatures!  And our children are mere mortals...Mary's firstborn was God in the flesh!

I am so very thankful for the wonderful blessing of being allowed to be a mother.  I'm thankful for the three children that I have had the privilege of loving and having as a part of my life.  I am thankful for all the older mothers that have influenced me and showered me with love and advice throughout my life. And I am thankful for the younger women who are currently working at training up their children in the Lord.  May God bless them with the wisdom, courage, strength, patience and love that they will need to faithfully perform their vocation.  Happy (belated) Mother's Day!