THANK GOD FOR MY "NORMAL" MOTHER

As I grew up, I assumed my family was normal. My parents are married to each other. All of my siblings are my whole siblings - no halfs or steps. We had a very stable life. We all grew up in the same house, attended the same school and the same church all of our childhood. But as I grew older, I realized that all of this was not really the norm. The stability my parents provided is more rare than I realized. Death, divorce, drugs, alcohol, abuse disrupted the childhoods of many of my friends.

Yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day. A beautiful day to visit my parents at the lake. My day started out kind of rough. I have a great mother. My daughter - not so great. So instead of having help getting everything ready for the day, I was trying to get stuff ready for church and load everything so I could go straight to the lake after church.

I did not attend church on Mother's Day until I started working at a church. In my childhood and early adult life, we usually spent Mother's Day (and Father's Day) at the lake. My parents did not like the way churches handle the honoring of parents on these special days. Although it is great to honor the oldest, youngest and most fertile parents, these days can be difficult for women whose desire to have children has never been fulfilled or who have lost a child. It is also hard on those who have lost their mother. For months I have made my concern about how we honor mothers heard at every possible opportunity, so Tim decided that I could be the one who honored the mothers in the service.

My prayer gave thanks for the women who made sacrifices to raise children. It also acknowledged that not all situations are perfect. Mothers stuggle. Not all mothers wanted their children. Not all women make good mothers. Some women care for other peoples children. We prayed for those who lost children, whose children have moved away, those who have lost mothers.

During Children's Moment we took time to honor the women who have nurtured our children. Many people consider Mother's Day a holiday created by greeting card companies or florists, so you may wonder why we make such a big deal at church. Actually the origins of this day are within the church. Some cultures celebrate Mother's day during Lent or 9 months before Christmas, both started in honor of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Some trace the history of the day back to the practice of honoring the Mother Church - kind of like homecoming. When you return to your Mother
church, you are often also visiting your parents. At one time Mother's Day was celebrated in June as Mother's for Peace Day. It was actually a call for mothers to encourage peace and reconciliation. Later, the push for a day set aside to honor mothers was started when there was a realization that children often fail to truly show reverence to their mothers until they have regrets after their mother's passing. But even the founders of mother's day later regretted how commercialized it became. The original intent was exactly what we try to do in church - set aside time to remind ourselves that we are commanded to honor our father and mother. We are to do this every day, but Sunday we set aside a time to be specific in honoring mothers.

What is a mother? The dictionary tells us that a Mother is a Female parent; Woman acting as parent; Originator; Protector or to mother is to take care of something with tenderness; give birth; bring something about. Yesterday we honored those women who are parents. We honored both the women who bore us and the women who bear with us.

While I tried to be very sensitve to all of the many situations present in the congregation, I must admit that I wanted to just say that I am very thankful my sweet little mother.