Happy Mother’s Day

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:28-29

I wrote something in October… for my mother. I wanted her to know what she means to me. I wanted her to know how I feel about her. And I believe it would be appropriate to share with every mother… because what my mom did for me is what we all do for our very own. We lay down our lives for our children. Because we love them that much… to death. May you be blessed by this, and may you be blessed this Mother’s Day…

My Mother –  A Depiction of Jesus Christ

            I’ve been on a quest the past couple of years.  My mission has been to know God, my Creator, in a way I had never experienced Him before.  I wanted to understand just what it is He expects and requires of me while I roam this earth.  I have been drawing nearer to God, in a way I never had before.

            This past year, I’ve come to realize that what God wants is quite simple.  He doesn’t ask a lot from me, but then again, He asks everything from me.  Quite a paradox.  At the basest level, God calls me to just a few things… I am to love the LORD above all else, believe what God says about His Son and be reconciled to Him through Jesus, and to love my neighbor like myself.  I am to be merciful and just, and walk humbly with God.

            Of course, I wanted to go deeper.  It wasn’t enough for me to know what He wanted… I also wanted to know just how to do these things.  And fortunately, He gave me a model to follow.  God gave me His Son, the perfect sacrifice, as an example of how I should live.  He is my road map for navigating this highway called life.  And Jesus shows me just what God expects of me… everything.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13

            This is what Jesus did.  He laid down His life for all mankind.  And in contemplating how one lays down a life today, I was startled when I realized God had given me another example years ago.  My mother.

            My mother was a broken woman when I was growing up.  She had a hard life, and for quite some time she was bitter and worn out.  I know that at one point, she felt God hated her.  That must have been because she was so weary of the pain and constant struggle of which her life consisted.  She suffered.  But you know, Jesus felt just the same.

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34

            Jesus had to suffer for our sins upon a cross, so that we could have life.  At His darkest point, He felt that God abandoned Him.  In hindsight, I can see Jesus in my mother.  She must have felt the same… she suffered so as she laid down her life.  And she gave up hers so that my brother and I could have a life.  No greater love hath a woman than this.

            For my mother’s birthday, I want to give her the gift of this revelation. I want her to know what great purpose her life has held.  God has used her in a tremendous way.  Today, He has shown me what a great sacrifice my mother made.  She laid down her very own life, just for me.  Just like Jesus did.  I want her to know God pointedly revealed that to me today… And He wants me to do the same for my son.  I will follow her example, and lay down my life for my child.  Perhaps one day, my son will see Jesus in me, as I do in my mother.