Mother's Day

I am violating one of my “rules”:  Men shouldn’t write about Mother’s Day. 

It is fraught with danger.  Inevitably you will write something that will come across as sexist, insensitive, and wrong.  I long ago gave up on Mother’s Day sermons.  They either produce guilt or they make mother’s feel like failures because you lay out unrealistic expectations that come across as authoritative.  Or you are insensitive to the women in the congregation who have not been able to become mothers for a variety of reasons. 

When my kids were younger I would work with them on gifts for their mom that they either created themselves, or shopped for with me.  Now they are all grown and launched and are on their own when it comes to honoring their mom.  I think Becky has been, and continues to be a wonderful mom, to our children.  She makes up for all of my shortcomings.  But she is not my mom, she is my kid’s mom.  They should honor her. 

I will honor my mom.  The older I get, the more I stand in awe of her.  She is 87 and recently wrote in an email that she had gone golfing last week.  She has cut her golf down to two days a week in the summer and apologizes for taking a cart! 

My mom lost her first husband in WWII, leaving her a widow with an infant daughter (my sister).  She later married my dad and my brother and I were born. 

My parents divorced when I was 14 and my brother was 11.  My mom was a single parent long before it became “normal” and acceptable.  She was working full-time and raising two teenage boys on her own.  My brother and I were active in every sport imaginable and other school activities as well.  Our mom was dedicated to keeping our lives as “normal” as possible and not to have us miss out on anything due to our family situation. 

Like most teenagers, I didn’t appreciate my mom’s situation and the time, effort and spiritual and emotional energy she invested in our lives.  However, as I have raised my own family, I can appreciate all she did more fully.

At times I would wonder, “How did she do it?”  Then an image would come to my mind.   As a teenager, I would get up and sleepily stumble into the kitchen for breakfast.  My mom would already be up, sitting at the table with her cup of coffee and her Bible.  She did it every day, without fail. 

How do you find the strength, wisdom, perseverance and courage to raise two teenage boys on your own?  You begin the day seeking God’s perspective, insight and wisdom.  “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)

My mom was a great role model for me, and for all parents. 

Happy Mother’s Day!