Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 8th! We’ve been honoring Mom’s officially as the second Sunday in May since 1914. I think May is a wonderful time of year as the weather turns, and the flowers bloom we honor our mothers. My own mom passed in 2014 and for the last two years this holiday has made me realize what a gift I had in a loving, caring mother. I know that’s not the case for some.
I try not to feel guilty over time lost in her later years, especially the last year of her life. As she became ill and it was hard for her to get around I would always find her by the aviary of the nursing home where she lived. She loved to watch the birds and would rock on a rocking chair and partially sleep some of the day away. In her last year or so of living, whenever I greeted her with “I love you” she would say back to me “I loved you first!” I treasure those words still today!
It’s true, our mothers loved us first, but before that our God loved. Our God knew us and loved us “before we were created in our mother’s womb” (Jeremiah 1:5). And that love of God exists still today. All that we are- mind, body, soul was created, known and loved by God before we were born. Mother’s Day is the second Sunday of the month of May, not the second Tuesday, or Thursday. Why is that?
When we gather for worship we honor the God we love. Can’t we say that God’s love is like a mother’s love? Unconditional, unending, and unyielding, it is a life-giving love and the two can be celebrated together. And so now we get to love God back, because each day we are alive we celebrate as “God’s day!”
God bless all mom’s everywhere,
Peace,
Pr. Doug
NLS Spiritual Director
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
