A Mother's Dedication
Friday, May 10, 2024
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. . . . Her children arise and call her blessed. Prov. 31:10-28, NIV.
Napoleon once said, "Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons. The future destiny of the child . . . is always . . . the work of the mother."
She married Ken when they were 17 and both high school dropouts. Ken was good-looking, played backup guitar in a local band, and had a job at a lumber hardware store. What more could you ask for? Never mind that he swore a little and drank a lot.
Life was OK. But things changed when she joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Now, instead of Friday nights in a local tavern with the band, she spent them reading the Bible and in trying to teach three squirming, mischievous boys their memory verse.
Ken didn't mind his wife's religion, but he made it perfectly clear that Friday night, as every night, would be spent with Budweiser and his friends at the tavern. And so for a dozen years or more this struggling new Christian mother spent the beginning of the Sabbath hours singing "Jesus Loves Me" as she knelt with her boys. Every Saturday morning, while Father went to work, Mom brought her energetic sons to Sabbath school and church. She sacrificed to put them in church school and took them to Pathfinders, church campouts, and Saturday night socials. The young mother taught them the dangers of substance abuse and the importance of a healthy lifestyle. All this she did alone.
At times it must have been discouraging, hard, unrewarding, and thankless work. But the prayers and commitment of mothers work miracles . . . because I'm that mother's son.
The fact that I'm a pastor today and not at a neighborhood tavern is to a large degree a result of a mother's resolve that her children would grow up with a knowledge of and a love for the Lord. I agree with Theodore Roosevelt, who said: "The mother is the one supreme asset of the natural life. She is more important, by far, than the successful statesman, businessman, artist, or scientist."
Today is the day to arise and call your mother blessed. Or why not just call her and tell her how much you appreciate what she has done for you?
Napoleon once said, "Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons. The future destiny of the child . . . is always . . . the work of the mother."
She married Ken when they were 17 and both high school dropouts. Ken was good-looking, played backup guitar in a local band, and had a job at a lumber hardware store. What more could you ask for? Never mind that he swore a little and drank a lot.
Life was OK. But things changed when she joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Now, instead of Friday nights in a local tavern with the band, she spent them reading the Bible and in trying to teach three squirming, mischievous boys their memory verse.
Ken didn't mind his wife's religion, but he made it perfectly clear that Friday night, as every night, would be spent with Budweiser and his friends at the tavern. And so for a dozen years or more this struggling new Christian mother spent the beginning of the Sabbath hours singing "Jesus Loves Me" as she knelt with her boys. Every Saturday morning, while Father went to work, Mom brought her energetic sons to Sabbath school and church. She sacrificed to put them in church school and took them to Pathfinders, church campouts, and Saturday night socials. The young mother taught them the dangers of substance abuse and the importance of a healthy lifestyle. All this she did alone.
At times it must have been discouraging, hard, unrewarding, and thankless work. But the prayers and commitment of mothers work miracles . . . because I'm that mother's son.
The fact that I'm a pastor today and not at a neighborhood tavern is to a large degree a result of a mother's resolve that her children would grow up with a knowledge of and a love for the Lord. I agree with Theodore Roosevelt, who said: "The mother is the one supreme asset of the natural life. She is more important, by far, than the successful statesman, businessman, artist, or scientist."
Today is the day to arise and call your mother blessed. Or why not just call her and tell her how much you appreciate what she has done for you?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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