"Countless times each day a mother does what no one else can do quite as well. She wipes away a tear, whispers a word of hope, eases a child’s fear. She teaches, ministers, loves, and nurtures the next generation of citizens. And she challenges and cajoles her kids to do their best and be the best. But no editorials praise these accomplishments. Where is the coverage mothers rightfully deserve?" James Dobson

Mothers are special to all of us. Even mothers have mothers; so they both receive and give tributes on this day. I have several good articles that I would like to read to express our feelings---so mixed with joy and sorrow, regret and forgiveness, uncertainty of what to say and certainty about how we feel.

This first article is a prayer of a woman before she gives birth to her child. John Waddy, a minister of the Gospel, discovered the prayer on a faded card in an old book.

"A Woman’s Prayer For The Child To Come"

by John Waddey in The Great Inheritance

"O God, I am going down to find a little soul, a thing that shall be mine as no other thing in the world has been mine.

Keep me for my child’s life. Bring me through my hour strong and well for the sake of my baby.

Prepare me for real motherhood. Preserve my mind from doubts and worries and all fearsome misgivings, that I may not stain my thoughts with cowardice for my child’s sake.

Drive all anger and impurities, all low and unworthy feelings from me, that the little mind that is forming may become a brave, clean wrestler in this world of dangers.

And, God, when the child lies in my arms, and draws his life from me, and when his eyes look up in mine to learn what this new world is like, I pledge Thee the child shall find reverence in me, and no fear, truth and no shame, love strong as life and death, and no hates or petulancies.

God, make my baby love me. I ask no endowments for excellencies for my child, but only that the place of motherhood once given me it may never be taken from me. As long as the soul lives that I shall bring forth, let there be in it one secret shrine that shall always be mother’s.

Give the child a right, a clean mind, and a warm free soul.

And I promise Thee that I shall study the child and seek to find what gifts and graces Thou hast implanted and to develop them. I shall respect the child’s personality.

I am but Thy little one, O Father. I fold my hands and put them between Thy hands, and say, Give me a normal baby, and make me a normal mother. Amen."

"If it was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called labor." Barbara Johnson

The next two articles are a tribute to all those who celebrate this day with their mother’s absence.

"I Miss My Mother"

by Gene Shelburne, Christian Appeal

Reprinted in UpWords, May 2000

"My mother has been gone now for 7 years. Those years have zipped by. Yet it seems like she’s been gone from us for a long time. Even more now, I think, than in those days right after she died; I miss my mother.

I miss her every time I see aphids on my lilacs or rust on my roses. Mom would know exactly what to do about that, I think to myself. Only God knows how many times I dialed her number to tap the wealth of horticultural savvy she had stored up. She always knew what to do to make the bugs die and the plants live. This week I planted petunias. At moments like that I miss her.

I miss my mother every time I walk into a room and spot one of the dozens of afghans she knitted for friends and family. Everywhere she went her knitting sack went with her. Her needles were seldom still. No two afghans turned out the same, but I always recognize her work. Mom made that, I say to myself, and I miss her.

I miss my mother when I look at granddaughter Jillian and remember how much Mom delighted in getting to care for a little one who looked and acted so much like she did. She adored all her great-grandkids, of course, it breaks my heart so many of them will never know her. When I hear William rattling off a Bible verse he’s memorized or when I see Sadie patting her dolly to sleep, I think how much that would have pleased their great-grandma. And I miss her.

I miss Mom at those special times when our family pulls out the tattered box filled with Great Songs of the Church and we sing the hymns we’ve sung as a family for half a century or more. Mom was our alto back in the days when there were just five of us around the kitchen table. Whenever we sing those songs, I miss her.

I miss my mother when I stand in the house she loved as a girl, and my heart aches a bit when I realize that the final coats of paint and the new carpet were completed in the days while she lay dying. Together her sons refurbished her homeplace for our parents’ retirement days, and she never saw the finished project. We still try to maintain her parents’ house. When we’re there, more than ever, I miss her.

I realize, of course, that I’m not saying anything you couldn’t say if your mother has also gone to be with the Lord. All of us miss our mothers. Especially when Mother’s Day rolls around again and we pause to pay them special honor."

"Mother---Still With Us"

by Tom Norvell

"Norvell Notes," May 10, 1999

Dear Mama,

"If my calculations are accurate, this makes the 35th Mother’s Day, I (and your other three children) have been without you. Thirty-five times we’ve wished we could be with you. Thirty-five times we have wished we could visit you, or call you. Thirty-five times we have not been able to send you a card, or flowers, or take you out to your favorite restaurant. (I don’t even know what your favorite restaurant would be.) Thirty-five times we have wished we could tell you, I love you, put our arms around you, and hear you tell us that you love us too. Thirty-five times Mother’s Day has passed without you. It has been thirty five years without you, but we are not angry with you, and we don’t begrudge you for not being with us. In fact, in many ways you have been with us for all thirty-five of these Mother’s Day celebrations, and will continue to be with us as we celebrate those in the future. You see, you have been with us always.

You have been with us as our marriages have developed and moved through the various stages of the relationship. You were there, apparently, when we selected our mate and had a fairly significant impact on that selection process. You were there when we went through some tough times to remind us of the importance of not giving up. You were there to remind us of the importance of our relationship as an example.

You have been with us in our work. In so many ways, you have helped us to see the value in hard work, and doing a job well. You have shown us the importance of staying with a task and taking our responsibilities seriously. You have shown us that hard work and faithfulness to our work, may not always provide lucrative rewards in this life, and you have reminded us that we are not working for those kinds of rewards.

You have been with us as we have watched our children grow. How many times have we wondered, What would Mama do? Or, I wish I could ask her how she would handle this. Then, somehow, we found an answer. Though you have not been here physically to share in their accomplishments and their struggles, you have been with us as we have quietly reflected upon what amazing things God has done in all our lives, and now in the lives of our children.

No, you have not been with us to celebrate special days, you have not been around when it came time for offering us advise or encouragement, and you have not been here when we just needed someone to talk with about life. But, you have been with us as an ever-living example of faith and hope and the belief that people are basically good, and given a chance most will do the right thing. You have taught us that life is more about people than about things. You have taught us that, above all else, we must have a healthy relationship with our Creator. With that we have learned that when others leave us, or others hurt us, or others disappoint us, He is always with us. You have shown us by your life and through your death that the smallest amount of faith in the One who made the mountains can sometimes cause that mountain to move.

Yes, another Mother’s Day has come and gone. Once again we have not spent the money on you that we would like to. Once again we have not given you the attention that you would deserve were you still with us. And, once again this day has left us with a feeling of ‘something is missing.’ But, we know in the depths of our hearts that you are still with us. We know that you are living in us and through us. The faith that you prayed for is being revealed in us and through us, not perfectly, but authentically, just as you would have wanted. Happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for courage you gave us, the life that you showed us, and the comfort you left us that you are still with us."

"A Mother’s Love Won’t Let Go"

by Douglas F. Parsons

Midland, TX

Reprinted in UpWords, May 1999

"My grandfather, Boyd D. Fanning, preached in Synder, Texas for with years. He told about an experience he had in that west Texas oil town. As he walked downtown he saw the unconscious, bloody body of a young man whose mother was a member of the church where my grandfather preached. Helping the unconscious man up, he assisted him to his car and drove him to his mother’s house where she asked my grandfather to place the boy on the bed.

As a look of despair swept across her lined face, the anxious mother asked her preacher to go the kitchen and bring back a basin of water and some clean rags. When my grandfather returned, he paused at the door and looked as the mother was sitting on the bed with the drunken son’s bloody head in her lap. As she stroked the disheveled and matted hair back from his face, her snow-white apron turned crimson from the oozing wounds on her son’s head and face. And the broken-hearted, weary mother who had put up with the boy’s sinfulness all too long, was sobbing and saying, You never would let me love you when you are sober.

A mother’s love is a love that won’t let go. Regardless of how wickedly and carelessly a son or a daughter may live, mother’s love won’t let go. There is a tenacity about it---a building determination about it---that won’t turn loose even under the most discouraging circumstances.

Each of us owes a debt to mother we can never repay. She rocked us and nursed us as children; bound up scraped knees and doctored bruised egos; read to us Bible stories and told us about Jesus as we sat on her knees; counseled us as teenagers when we didn’t understand what life was doing to us; and gave us the benefit of her wisdom when we considered taking a life’s mate.

But that’s not all---not nearly all---mother has done for us and meant to us. Libraries have been written about her; poems have been penned honoring her; ballads have been sung extolling her; memorials have been erected uplifting her; and special days, such as May 14, have been set aside to show respect to her.

Mothers come in all sizes and ages and each is special. And ‘Mother’ is still the sweetest word in human language."

"Nobody Knows"

(the words of a song given to me by Lucille Bishop)

Nobody knows of the work it takes to keep the home together

Nobody knows of the steps it takes, nobody but mother

Nobody listens to childish woes which kisses only smother

Nobody pained by the mighty blow, nobody, only mother

Nobody knows of the sleepless care bestowed on baby brother

Nobody knows of the tender prayer, nobody knows but mother

Nobody knows of the lessons taught of loving one another

Nobody knows of the patience sought, nobody, only mother

Nobody knows of the anxious fears, lest darlings may not weather

Storms of this life in the coming years, nobody can but mother

Nobody knows of the tears that start the grief she’ll gladly smother

Nobody knows of the breaking heart, nobody, but mother

Nobody clings to the wayward child, Tho scorned by every other

Leads it so gently from pathways wild, nobody can but mother

Nobody knows of the hourly prayer for him our erring brother

Pride of her heart once so pure and fair, nobody, only mother

This week I called several mothers in this audience to ask them some questions about being a mother. I appreciate Verna Whitehead, Dorothy Strosnider, Janet Giffen, Gaydel Bradley, Nettie Shelburne, Barbara Shannon, Loreitta Manning, and June Hill for answering my questions. When I called Nettie, she wanted to know if this was a joke! The following are their replies:

All of the ones asked said something like this: bringing up the children in the right way; the safety and well-being of your family; I learned that I could not protect them from every danger in life; I was concerned about the effect the world would have upon them when they grew up; their salvation; concerned over their family now that they are married; more concern now than when they were young; did I do my job well? (Always a parent.)

June Hill said that she was concerned that her children would care enough for themselves to have God in their lives and be responsible.

Gaydell Bradley said that she was concerned that her children accepted Christ and showed a Christian example. She added that she prayed to God that He would give her just average children, not above average. She said that there were a couple in her husband’s family that were above average and she could not stand any more of that!

Most of them said, Because they sacrifice so much for the children; because mothers once stayed home with them; because the mother has done a lot to raise them; they depend upon her. The children may wonder why they did not tell their mothers, I love you, more often. The children reflect upon what they once did when they were young and at home.

Barbara Shannon said children once were sentimental, but not any more; they often take their parents for granted.

June Hill said that she did not place a great deal of emphasis upon special days, but wanted her children to be respectful of her everyday. If they did something special that was fine, but not expected.

Gaydel Bradley replied that Mother’s Day brings back memories, hardships and sacrifices. She said that she did not like restrictions when she was at home, but being a parent brings greater responsibilities.

All replied, Of course, yes. Verna added, I don’t know of anything that makes a woman happier than being a mother.

Verna--be willing to give up material things for the opportunity of staying with your children. Mothers often are the only ones who can help. Mothers have different feelings for their children even from the fathers. A mother’s first duty is to raise her children.

Gaydel--it is a great honor to stay home with the children. She kept other parents’ children. When they would come for their children in the afternoon, she would tell the parents what their children did that day. They did not see it for themselves and so could not be as excited about it as she was.

Loreitta--stay close and there is a lot included in those words.

Dorothy--to bring up their children in the Lord. Do not let them have their way, though restraining them is difficult.

June--decide what qualities you want your children to have. If you want your children to be respectful of others, then you show respect to others. Children will learn from your attitudes and behavior.

Nettie--be patient no matter what happens.

Barbara--if possible, stay with your children; do not miss out on the young years.

Gaydel--they made my life beautiful; I hated to see them grow up; we learn much from them as they do from us.

Barbara--she was a mother at nineteen. Having children helps you to grow to maturity.

Loreitta--when I ask her what effect having children had upon her, she reached to touch her hair! (Just one child, Allen, did all of that.)

Nettie--she said that she was once very shy, but having children makes you more outgoing.

June--I put my children first, in front of me. I always look down the road to their future, what would help them.

"When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her into his own home." (John 19:26-27.)

"For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." (1 Tim. 2:13-15.)

"The aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (Titus 2:3-5.)

"I will therefore that the young women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully." (1 Tim. 5:14.)