A mother is a teacher, a disciplinarian, a nurse, a psychologist, a counselor, a chauffeur and a referee. Mothers develop personalities, teach vocabularies, and shape attitudes. Mothers are soft voices saying, “I love you.”
Mothers are a child’s first link to God. Some are gardeners & mowers of
lawns.   Mothers make happy memories and understand that baking cookies is more important than washing windows.

Erma Bombeck tells of God in the act of creating mothers. She says that on the day God created mothers He had already worked long overtime. And an angel said to Him, “Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one.”

The Lord turned & said, “Have you read the specs on this model? She is
supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic. She is to have 180 moving parts, all of them replaceable. She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. She is to have a lap that will disappear whenever she stands up. She is to be able to function on black coffee and  leftovers. And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands.”

“Six pairs of hands,” said the angel, “that’s impossible.” “It’s not the six pairs of hands that bother me.” said the Lord, “It’s the three pairs of eyes. She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’ she
already knows what they’re doing in there.”
“She has another pair in the back of her head to see all the things she is
not supposed to see but must see. And then she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that just goofed & communicate love  and understanding without saying a word.”

“That’s too much.” said the angel, “You can’t put that much in
one model. Why don’t you rest for a while & resume your creating
tomorrow?” “No, I can’t,” said the Lord. “I’m close to creating someone
very much like myself. I’ve already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick – who can feed a family of six with one pound of hamburger  and who can persuade a nine-year old to take a shower.”

Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely and
said, “She’s too soft.” “Oh, but she is tough,” said the Lord. “You’d be surprised at how much this mother can do.”

“Can she think?” asked the angel. “Not only can she think,”
said the Lord, “but she can reason & compromise  and persuade.” Then the angel reached over & touched her cheek. “This one has a leak,” he said. “I told you that you couldn’t put that much in one model.” “That’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “That’s a tear.”
“What’s a tear for?” asked the angel. “Well it’s for joy, for sadness, for sorrow, for disappointment, for pride.” “You’re a genius,” said the angel. And the Lord said, “Oh, but I didn’t put it there.”

I suppose that is why Mother’s Day is very special – because we recognize thatmother’s love is probably the closest example we have to God’s love. It is a love that goes through the valley of the shadow of death to bring life into being. It is a love that sacrifices itself over and over  again & would
even dare to lay down its life for its own offspring.

I recall the story that came out of WWII and the holocaust that took the lives of millions of people – re Solomon Rosenberg & his family. It is a true story.
Solomon Rosenberg and  his wife and their Two  sons & his mother & father were
arrested & placed in a Nazi concentration camp. It was a labor camp, and
the rules were simple. “As long as you can do your work, you are permitted
to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you are
exterminated.”
Rosenberg watched his mother & father marched off to their deaths, & he knew that next would be his youngest son, David, because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of labor & searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another, & thank God for another day of life.

One day Rosenberg came back & didn’t see those familiar faces. He finally
discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping, and praying. He said, “Josh, tell me it’s not true.” Joshua turned and said, “It is true, poppa. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him.”

“But where is your mother?” asked Mr. Rosenberg. “Oh poppa,” he said,
“When they came for David, he was afraid & he cried. Momma said,
`There is nothing to be afraid of, David,’ & she took his hand & went
with him.”

That is motherhood. Mothers, this is your day. May God bless you in it.”
Pastor Bryant