A Message From A Mother
IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR OWN COPY OF THE SERMON NOTES, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK TO DOWNLOAD A COPY: SERMON NOTES
Happy Mother’s Day
A Message From A Mother
Good morning and a very warm greetings to everyone. By the grace of God, He allows me to stand before you with much prayer and praises to our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very grateful to Him for His goodness, protection, provisions and preservation of all His people especially during the coronavirus pandemic that we are all experiencing.
Again, I extend my condolences to church family members who lost loved ones during this trying time and praise the Lord for those who recovered after contracting the virus and/or had other illness.
On April 13, I was surprised to receive Ruby’s call inviting me to speak to you today and Pastor Jerry followed up with a call confirming the invitation. I am humbled to be asked to encourage you about motherhood especially since I have not been able to attend church on site for more than a year.
Abraham Lincoln said, ''No one is poor who had a godly mother.'' He went on to say, ''I remember my mother's prayers, and they have followed me; they have clung to me all my life. All that I am and hope to be I owe to my angel mother.’’
Congress declared the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. President Woodrow Wilson said on May 9, 1914 that this day has been set aside as a time for ''public expression of our love and reverence for the Mother's of our country.
'' Today is a special day celebrating Mothers and I begin by asking:
Who is a Mother?
A woman who borne a child?
A caregiver? A housekeeper?
A homemaker?
Page 1A tutor?
A cook?
A friend?
A listener?
A financier?
A counselor?
A mentor?
If you are a Mother, which one of these are you? Or, are you all of these to your children?
Actually, a mother is all of these all rolled into one and so much more.
She is a woman chosen by God for this God-given privilege of motherhood. No one can match the sacrificial love a mother gives to her children which she plays throughout her life until her death.
A mother’s love is the purest form of emotion that would have ever existed in the universe. She nurtures her children through their growth and development.
Her aspirations before becoming a mother are put aside when her children are born as she cares for them and helps them achieve their dreams.
Mothers play a vital role in shaping up her children to become better citizens. A mother becomes a role model to her children as they watch her in the way she raises them up.
A mother fulfills so many roles each and everyday as her children grow up.
And Mothers deserve at least one day a year to be honored and celebrated.
On Mother’s Day, we also remember aunts who nurture their nieces and nephews, and adoptive mothers and those who mother foster kids.
The most precious memory of my own Mother is when I ran to hug her after a playful day with my friends and sitting on her lap to be comforted. Reading the Bible aloud in her rocking chair in our porch, she reminded me to participate in church activities. She took me around to visit relatives and friends making me a very social person as I am today. She was a great cook, keeping me at her side to train me to be a great chef that I am now. Something different between me and my mother though, she did not cook healthy food!
What about you, Mothers? You most likely learned to become the mother that you are from the example of your own mother. What are your precious memories of your own mother? How did your mother influence you growing up? How are you influencing your children? Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5 “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that is in you as well. “
How about your memories raising your children? Do you remember the infant you held in your arms? The tiny one who was totally dependent for your care and survival? Cuddling and dancing a colicky child in the middle of the night? How was it for you as a new mother?
Toddlers go through a period of always asking what, why, where, when and how. They are very curious about their environment. They were called terrible 2s since they were always moving around, climbing the chairs and going up and down the stairs, and taking out your pots and pans from your kitchen cabinet and you had to lock them. They are a powerhouse of energy.
In their formative years of ages 4-9, they learn quickly and absorb things very fast. They are chatterboxes naming objects around them. As they continue to grow and have friends, mothers become an Uber driving them around.
Pre-teen and teen years - what big change! They roll their eyes, have an attitude when you talk to them and disrespectfully turn their back and walk away. They are very conscious of their appearance influencing the way they dress up, talk, etc. By this time, a Mother has to be supportive of teen agers as they go through changes of rapid growth and development. They develop friendship and Mom becomes
an Uber driving them around to sports or school activities, or piano lessons, slumber parties or to friends just to hung out with them.
A Mother continues to guide her young adult children in discovering their gifts and encouraging them to develop and achieve their career goals directing them to a successful life.
As adult children living on their own, a Mother continues to love them while respecting their privacy, setting boundaries for herself as a mother and giving advise when they seek her counsel.
The greatest reward of motherhood is having grandchildren….to spoil them! Added to her shopping list are toys, children clothing/shoes, games, etc.
Motherhood is very challenging and yet very, very rewarding. Being a mother is not always moments of joy. It is also a constant roller coaster of emotions. Those precious moments of children growing up years linger with you, as a Mother, for as long as you live.
As a Mother, who is a follower of Jesus, Proverbs 22:6 tells us that we have to train our child in the way he should go, for even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
So, how do we do this? We are to set a good example as a child of God, teaching them how to pray at a young age, reading the Bible to them, bringing them to church, encouraging them to walk with God and leading them to a personal relationship with our Lord.
BCI children are blessed to have programs that teach them to love the Lord and learn the word of God. We are blessed to have the ministry of our children who grew up here in church like Pastor RJ & Reu, the Alvaran’s, Cachuela’s, Manlapig’s, Anjo and many others who are not visible here in the service but are teaching in Sunday School. Also, those who started ministries outside of BCI, like Maryanne Tibayan, Pastor James Lepasana, Pastor AJ Camota. Youth pastors take our pre-teens and teen-agers to summer camps for long weekends. There are several Christian camps available if the kids want to stay longer in a summer camps. My two youngest daughters stayed in Camp Spofford in New Hampshire every summer when they were young. One of them stayed on as a staff so she can stay throughout the summer. One day, she called and did not like her job cleaning toilets and I advised her to speak to her counsellor. The following day, she said it was fine. It was better than working in the dining hall three times/day. Every year she went back as a staff until she was promoted to Counsellor. My grandson, worked as a lifeguard in a Page 4summer camp and mentored many City kids attending the camp, which he enjoyed doing the most.
As a Mother, we should also know God’s word from Deuteronomy 6:6-7 admonishes us “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Warren Wiersbe states in his book, Be Complete, a commentary on the book of Colossians, that
“Children has the right to be born and also a right to be born into a dedicated Christian home where they will be raised in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord”. They have the right to have holy parents who will teach them the Word of God and discipline them in love.”
Mothers are creating memories in their children’s lives. Family picnics, outings, gatherings at home with friends on special occasions, summer trips to Disney World, down the shore, to the Poconos, camping in upstate New York.
As adult children with careers and living on their own, a Mother also ensures food containers are available in her house to pack food for her children to take home when they visit. I remember a time when I cooked something for my daughter living in town. She was happy not to have to cook and asked if it was going to be delivered, picked up or would it be dining by my window.
As a Mother of 5 children, I have three advise to young mothers.
1. Respect the privacy of your adult children
2. Set boundaries for yourself as a Mother, not meddling unless you are asked
3. Give advise when your counsel is sought
Can you think of mothers mentioned in the Bible whose character you can emulate as a mother? How about Jachebed, the mother of Moses, and the wonderful story of her love and sacrifice for her son? How about Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and how she dedicated him to the Lord, and how God honored her request by using him in the ministry?
Today, people everywhere are more aware than before about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In addition to regular exercise, this includes eating healthy choices of food. All mothers eating Weill is a matter of making smart choices of food you eat. We could say that food is a friend or a foe. Food choices can lead to chronic disease, cancer, overweight, and other health issues. Remember that our body is a temple of God and this is the only body we will have. We need to eat a wide variety of healthy foods to get all the nutrients we need at different season of life and the right amount to maintain a healthy weight. Plant based food is a smart choice. Follow the these guidelines:
Fish provide good healthy fats, which are friendly to our hearts, such as wild caught salmon and mackerel rich in Omega 3 and very low in mercury. Sardines are packed with bones which are good source of calcium.
Less serving of beef, pork and chicken to lower cholesterol.
High fiber food from complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables that help maintain better levels of both blood sugar and blood cholesterol.
Foods that are great source of calcium and Vit. D to provide the right stuffs for our bones.
Foods rich in carotene, Vit. C, fiber, selenium, which are cancer fighting nutrients.
Avoid too much sugar, which contribute to tooth decay and lead to diabetes, such as colas and other sweet beverages.
If you drink alcohol, do it in moderation or totally avoid it.
Avoid eating high processed foods, which are depleted of natural nutrients.
In closing, I’d like share Proverbs 31: 26-29, which reads:
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness, 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women do noble things but you surpass them all.”
I encourage you, Mothers, to be this Mother described in these verses. Happy Mother’s Day to all wonderful mothers in our church family. God bless you all, stay well and safe.
-Mrs. Sylvia Blanco