Being a Church that Cares for Mothers

Format this into paragraph form that is easy to read and removes all filler words such as uh and um. well happy Mother's Day i went to uh the source of all knowledge which is of course social media um to find out some uh descriptions of motherhood um what does it mean to be a mother and here's some of the some of the wisdom that social media provided me um being a mom is taking a job when you have no training and no experience you aren't allowed to quit and people's lives are literally depending on you okay that's what someone on social media described motherhood uh somebody else said "A mom is someone who can take on any role but who can't be replaced by anyone." A that's so special um I like this one being a mom is having the ability to determine if your child broke a crayon or an arm just by hearing their cry okay and then this is my favorite one being a mom means ruining your child's whole day by making them take a bath and then ruining their whole day 15 minutes later by making them get out of the bath oh so special um I want to talk about mothers today but I don't want to but I want to talk about it in a different way than maybe I've normally addressed it in the past i want to think of it from the perspective of us here this morning the church and think about how can we as a church care well for our mothers how can we care well for our mothers and I at first I think it's really important for us to even take a step back and think about uh what the Bible says about motherhood and how it is described in such a way to help us understand that this really is not motherhood is not to be viewed as a burden as it is to be viewed as this beautiful gift that God has given us um we can go all the way back to the book of Genesis to the very beginning um when God created the earth when God filled it and right in the early chapters of the book of Genesis we are told many significant things about I've fastforwarded huh it's not working sorry oh you're going to get to see all the stuff here don't look hold hide your This is all out of order what's going on okay okay here we go this is what we're trying to do okay motherhood is a beautiful gift this is what we're talking about well all right thank you mothers for putting up with me in the book of Genesis we go all the way to the early chapters what God tells us uh about motherhood and we're given this this picture that this is a part of uh God's created order and it's something that he designed uh to be a part of um a part of creation a part of this world a part of what he described as being very good in Genesis 3:16 after the fall after Adam and Eve eat of the fruit and God is confronting them and is telling them about some of the consequences of their actions we read this in Genesis 3:16 to the woman he said "I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing in pain you shall bring forth children." And this is very interesting this as this is after the fall and God is explaining these consequences and the consequence is not the bearing of children this is not part of the the condemnation that God is administering to humanity uh rather the condemnation is the pain in this the something that God intended to be a part of the beauty of his creation something that is central to creation is now uh going to have this pain attached to it the childbearing is still a blessing from God part of his design part of what he declared to be very good and in fact In Genesis 1:es 27 and 28 we read this so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them god blessed them and said to them be fruitful and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heaven and over every living thing that moves on the earth being fruitful and multiplying not exclusive but certainly central to God's purpose for creating male and female central to that purpose is that they would have children that they would multiply even as a part of God's good gift before sin even entered into the equation this is part of what God called good and it's to the woman that he gives this special privilege and special role of being the one to bear the children male and female are both required to be fruitful and multiply but this special blessing was given to Eve was given to the females and in fact back in Genesis chapter 3 when we first learn what Eve's name is we learn that she's called Eve because she was the mother of all living that even her very name that means life or lifegiver is attached to this significance of being a mother that was part of the uh what God set out as was going to be a special identifier eve was the first mother in Psalm 127 verse three David says "Behold children are a heritage from the Lord the fruit of the womb a reward." What that psalmist is saying is that that being a mother is a beautiful thing and is a true blessing because what comes out of that the children are to be viewed as gifts from the Lord this is something special that God has given us through our mothers i love this quote from James Dobson and I'm going to move the slide and hopefully it doesn't go 28 things forward there we go i love this quote there's no more important job in the universe than to raise a child to love God live productively and serve humanity how ridiculous that a woman should have to apologize for wanting to fulfill that historic role i think that's a tragedy that we see not just in our society but around the world there is this this sense that uh to be a mother is now you are burdening society you are not contributing to soci society you are detracting you are taking away you are being selfish and the opposite is really true when we look at it from a biblical perspective But something else that we all understand whether we are mothers or not hopefully we have eyes to see and we can observe that as beautiful and as blessed as motherhood is it can be challenging it can be burdensome and because to be a mother is often to be accompanied by both physical and emotional pain certainly pregnancy can be difficult i thankfully did not have to experience being pregnant but I had to um the privilege of being able to see my wife suffer through that all the things that go along with it sicknesses mood swings back pain heartburn having to pee every five minutes you know all that stuff that goes along with it that's part of the curse side of pregnancy then there's pain management when it comes to actually giving birth that's one of the top things you have to talk about pain management whether you're going to go natural or not they give you all these sorts of tips and tricks about how to manage the pain that's part of the the difficulty that's part of the curse that's part of the burden but not just the pregnancy but raising children can perhaps be even more painful and emotionally taxing without even thinking about all the choices that have to be made about things like nutrition and car seats and stay at home or send to daycare or this kind of school or that kind of school without even thinking about that just thinking about the general idea of being a mother and raising your children it can be very very challenging have you guys ever been here Santa Monica santa Monica named after St monica who is Monica of Hippo the mother of St augustine St augustine however you want to pronounce it one of the pillars of the church augustine of Hippo considered a theological giant lived in North Africa in the 4th century to this day we still use and benefit from his writings his thought his theology uh we are deeply indebted to him and how God has used him in the church but he was not always a man of God and before his conversion he was very attracted to a life of heedenism and his his uh boys that he r he ran with and hung out with were very much influential in his life and were very much uh enticing him to live this life of hedenism even as he sort of wrestled with it and so he was drawn to that kind of self-indulgence especially towards women but it was his mother Monica who prayed tirelessly for her weward son she persisted in prayer and fasting and pleading for him and pleading with him a very painful existence as a mother to want your son to be living a life of godliness and righteousness and yet seeing him pursue this worldly self-indulgent lifestyle no doubt was a huge burden that she bore and one of the reasons why she was so tireless in her prayers and in her pleading for him it wasn't until he was in his early 30s that he finally was gripped by God and called to salvation so those 31 years his mother no doubt had many a sleepless night heavy at times many maybe even pained for her son and that's the kind of burden that mothers often bear in the Bible i often wonder about Samson's mother we don't even know her name we know that she was barren one of several women in scripture that is described that way and then she was told not only that she was going to be blessed with a son but that he was going to be a Nazerite from birth so it's like oh great extra requirements extra pressure not only in my old age do I have to raise a son but now he's got to be a Nazerite from birth so he's got all these requirements he has to meet and then Samson is born grows up and as a young man maybe a lot like St augustine very self-centered very hedonistic breaks all the Nazarite rules except for the hair one what kind of burdens did she bear as she understood the commands that God had given her and what kind of son he was supposed to be and yet to see him living this very selfobsessed selfcentered life i sometimes wonder if she didn't often secondguess herself if she didn't second guessess the way that she raised him and asked herself questions like perhaps if I had been more strict with him or the opposite maybe if I hadn't been so strict maybe if I had done this maybe if we had done that differently would he have turned out different would he be keeping these Nazerite vows better would he be living to serve God and his people better to me that sort of opens up the reality ity that Mother's Day can often be a mixed bag of emotions it can be hard for those of us who have mothers who have passed away and we miss them we miss our mothers mother's Day can remind us of that loss some of us have or have had contentious relationships with mothers maybe we've been the ones who've been the the rebellious ones or perhaps we've had the unfortunate reality of being raised by a mother who was not a good woman who was not uh someone who cared for us who did um mistreat us maybe you're one of those women who like the women in the Bible like like Samson's mother or like Sarah described as being barren maybe you've wanted to be a mother but have been unable to experience that joy and so Mother's Day surfaces a whole different kind of emotion for you for those of us who have had loving relationships with our mothers and our children though this day can often be a day of joy and gratitude so wherever you are in that mixed bag of emotions I want us to all recognize together that the Bible's very clear that children and motherhood is a blessing and a gift to humanity and at the same time it can be a challenging reality and so what I'd like to consider for the remainder of our time is how can we as a church care well for our mothers or to put it this way because motherhood is a high calling with heavy demands the church must rise to support and empower mothers and so I want to give you four ways that I believe scripture outlines for us as to how we as a church can do that how we as a church can support our mothers turn to Titus chapter 2 in Titus 2:es 3-5 we read this older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior not slanderers or slaves to much wine and they are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled pure working at home kind and submissive to their own husbands that the word of God may not be reviled the first way I think scripture gives us that's pretty clear that we as a church can help our mothers is by simply teaching them how to be good mothers paul says that these older women in the church are to teach the younger women what is good and so to train the younger women in other words what Paul's saying is within the church there's supposed to be this intergenerational imparting of godliness and knowledge this is this supposed to be a passing down of this not only the the practical things and tips and tricks we've learned along the way but a demonstration of what true godliness looks like and Paul identifies two methods for these older women to teach and equip the younger women the first is through modeling and the second is through actual teaching the modeling he outlines is kind of keyed in on the exercise of self-control it's through reverent behavior through not slandering and through not being enslaved to much wine now these are just representative but the idea is that older women are to show these younger women what it looks like to keep in check the impulsiveness that often accompanies youth and to keep in check sin's inherent draw towards this kind of selfishness and pride the the kind of things that no doubt were lived out in Augustine's life that his mother prayed for and that we see in the life of Samson these older women are to help these younger women understand how to live to avoid and to resist that kind of temptation and they're simply to model it let them see a life that's lived with self-control let them live see a life that is not always uh giving in to self-indulgence let them see what it looks like to be mature this is something Paul identifies as a resource the church can be for these younger women and secondly by teaching them if their actions are to show what it looks like to live with this kind of restraint from sinful selfish impulses then in their teaching they should open the door of insight into not the negative side as in terms of resisting these things but the positive side of living how should young women live so as to succeed in the various roles that they occupy when you have a baby you quickly learn that the world is full of people who have opinions about what is right and wrong about how you you raise your children and they are often very eager to share that information with you even if you're standing in the middle of the grocery aisle with your teething toddler screaming at the top of their lungs they're more than willing to let you know what you are or are not doing right there's a big difference between feeling compelled to apply every piece of parenting advice that gets lobbed your way as a mother and being mindful of the wisdom that godly older women can impart to younger mothers so here what I'm saying is if you are a young mother or a soon-to-be mother or aspiring mother you don't have to listen to every little piece of advice well you really shouldn't be doing that with your child i can't believe you're buying that food for them or you shouldn't have them in the in the cart that way they should be in the cart this way you know you don't have to listen to every piece of advice that people are just chucking your way but you should understand that there is a lot of wisdom out there that you can glean from these godly older women one of the scariest times in a parent's life at least this is our experience is when you drive away from the hospital for the first time with your new baby right this it's it's you and your baby in this looking like it's this big in the car seat right and it's not very long before that car seat seems tiny and the baby seems huge but when you first pull away from the hospital and they've given you all the brochures you've read all the books you've taken all the classes and you still feel like "What are we supposed to do with this baby back here they just gave it to us and let us go home with it like we know what we're doing and you're like we don't know what we're doing so there's no like instruction manual that you dropped in the seat in the back so but the reality is is moments like that happen routinely throughout your life as a parent you encounter situations with your children at different stages of life where all of a sudden you are feeling like I don't know what I'm doing in this situation i don't know what I'm supposed to do what does a good parent do in this situation i didn't expect this i wasn't anticipating this this isn't something that I read in the manual what am I supposed to do it doesn't just happen when you have a newborn for the first time there are things like that that happen over and over again oh and by the way every child is different right child number two isn't going to be like child number one and oftentimes the things that worked great with child number one don't do anything for child number two it's a whole new experience it seems like life presents you with new situations you have to navigate with your children over and over and over again and what Paul is saying is church you in this case older women can be a huge resource to these younger women so that they don't feel like they are going through this all by themselves this new experience of motherhood or even this experience of motherhood that's child number 2 3 4 5 or 15 church we can help our mothers by coming alongside them Paul says showing them and teaching them how to succeed at being a good mother if you are a mother and you feel like you're doing it all alone this church I hope and pray wants to be a resource for you we can help our mothers by teaching them we can help our mothers by honoring them the Bible is very clear this is one of the more repeated commands in scripture honor your fathers and mothers exodus 20:12 it's one of the ten commandments it's repeated again in Deuteronomy 5:1 16 jesus quotes it in Matthew 15 paul references it in Ephesians 6 and in 1 Timothy 5 so it's in the Old Testament it's in the New Testament it's used by Jesus it's used by the apostles we learn that honor your father and mother is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and you live long on the earth christian sons and daughters should be marked by showing honor to their mothers and you might ask yourself well how do I honor my mother fortunately for you the Bible gives us instructions on this as well first of all maybe it should be completely uh obvious a no-brainer you don't have to go to Reddit to find out if you should do this or not you don't have to ask whatever your favorite uh large language model GTP is you don't have to do any of that but obey them children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 obey your mothers that's the obvious one another one that should be obvious and is just maybe too simple for us to even really think about but it's just hanging right there out in front of us it's lowhanging fruit listen to your mothers by listening I mean heed their counsel solomon says in Proverbs chapter 1 "Hear my son your father's instructions and forsake not your mother's teaching for they are graceful garland on your head and pendants for your neck." He's saying "Your mother's instruction is like jewelry you should you should wear it with pride you should listen to the counsel of your mother when you do this you show her honor you recognize the value that she brings to you you recognize that she you know teenagers is going to be a shock to you she's not an idiot okay she has lived some life she might have something to share with you that is of value to you listen to your mothers heed their counsel you show them honor when you do this another way that we can honor our mothers is by respecting them and and I think this is crucial being respectful to them those are similar but two very different things respect your mother be respectful to them turn to Proverbs proverbs 30 in Proverbs 30:1 17 we read this the eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures that's pretty graphic right that's in the Bible that's pretty graphic though but what Solomon is saying is that you are foolish to treat your parents with in this way to mock and to scorn so in other words he's putting it in a negative but he's saying you should respect and be respectful to your mothers this is so hard often when we feel like maybe we do know better than mom maybe she doesn't understand the situation maybe she you know she she doesn't even uh know how to get on her own Facebook page without me helping her remember her password you know what can mom possibly have to share with me you feel like you know more than mom maybe you do that doesn't give you the right to be disrespectful to her to mock her or to scorn her she's your mother maybe she's not a good mother maybe you feel like she doesn't deserve it the way she raised me the way she treats me the way she whatever the Bible will say that that doesn't give you the right to res respond to evil with evil you should still show respect and be respectful another way we can honor our mothers is by providing for them especially as they get older turn to First Timothy chapter 5 in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 4 Paul says "But if a widow has children or grandchildren let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return for their parents for this is pleasing in the sight of God in verse three he says "Honor widows who are truly widows." So the idea being if you are a child in this case of a widow you should be taking care of your mother you shouldn't be putting it off on someone else or some other institution you should consider it your obligation this is a way you honor them by providing for them in this case as widows when they have lost their chief provider and life companion this reminds me of Jesus as he hung on the cross one of his concerns he speaks to John is to care for his mother as he's about to die and the Bible says that from that day on that Mary lived with John in his house jesus concern was to care for his and provide see that his mother was provided for solomon in first kings chapter uh 2 verse 19 honors his mother Ba Sheeba she comes to him to make requests on behalf of one of his brothers and how Solomon the king regards his mother is by rising and bowing to her and then first Kings 21:19 tells us that he also has a another chair brought and put to at the right hand of his throne and he converses with his mother as king in a way that shows reverence and deference towards her children I'm going to let you know i will be I will completely honest with you there will be times in your life when you are right and your mom is wrong it will happen well that doesn't give you the freedom to be disrespectful to her or that that becomes the reason that you no longer have to treat her with honor as Christians we should be known as people who honor our mothers there's another way that we as a church can care well for our mothers and the Bible also talks about this a lot and that is by taking care of widows this is another repeated command in scripture we read it in James chapter 1 we read it in John 19 and Acts chapter 6 widows who are truly widows and how the Bible tends to define that is that they they either do not have family who can support them as Paul talks about in first Timothy or they're past the age where they can remarry they in other words they don't have any family to support them and James says it's a sign of true religion when we as a church extend ourselves to support those women those women who have typically no way to repay us any sort of kindness or generosity we offer them is simply all they can do is respond with by being kind or appreciative because they often have nothing to give back in return so it isn't like this is some sort of uh um commercial exchange where we show kindness to these widows because they're these rich old ladies with you know lot these huge trust funds and that they're going to return the favor by giving us all this money or whatever that's not the motivation the motivation is we see people in need who have throughout their life given so much to others and now we as a church as Christians recognize their need and we want to meet their need because they are valuable to us because they have given so much throughout their lives and so it is not only our duty but our privilege to care for them that's what I think is so special about uh Acts chapter 6 if you want to turn over there real quickly this is one of the the places that we look as perhaps the prototype for the deacon ministry in the church and that there were these widows in the church that were felt like they were being neglected that they were not receiving um what the church was supposed to be distributing and they were being neglected in these daily distributions and so the apostles who were overseeing the church at this time didn't just say "Oh you silly old ladies don't worry about it we'll figure it out." They recognized the need was real and so what they did was they appointed people to oversee this ministry because they recognized that it was a value that this was something the church should be doing and so it needed to be tended to with some seriousness and so they appropriated seven men to care for the and oversee the distribution of food to these widows who were coming to the church for their daily needs so even in that we see that the church from its very earliest days recognized the value and the need for the church to care for these widows the last one the last way and certainly this is not an exhaustive list the Bible teaches us that we can care for mothers in the church and this is sort of a catch-all but we can help to lighten their load being a mother is a lot of work whether you're a stay-at-home mom or you're working and your kids are uh in daycare or you're a single mom or whatever there's all sorts of different scenarios in which you can be a mom they all can very easily become overwhelming and one of the things that Christians are called to do the Apostle Paul specifically outlines it in Galatians chapter 6 and that is to bear one another's burdens we're called to work to help to lighten the load for these mothers it certainly applies to how we as Christians behave towards them and I say it's a catch-all because in many situations the burdens of each mom is going to be unique to them the needs that they have the way in which we as a church can help them are not going to be identical from family to family and person to person and so there has to be perhaps a little bit of flexibility uh there has to be a little bit of um being observant and to see what seems to be the need in each particular family and you identify where you can help these mothers out it's a sense in which we as a church should have our eyes and ears open in not only in the conversations not that there's these you know that it's the the gossiping and the chatter but we're just aware of the struggles and the realities of each family's existence and when we come to understand those we should want to help to meet and assist the meet the needs and assist in those situations i also like to leave this one kind of open-ended rather than saying we should be doing this this this this and this to help lighten the loads of these um mothers because I really would love to hear your ideas i would love to hear what you think are the opportunities we as a church have to help bear the burdens of the mothers in our midst or the mothers who come to us so let me just sort of land the plane by saying this first of all moms you are such a blessing to us you're a blessing to your family you're a blessing to our church you are a special gift designed by God for a role that you only can fill and that goes all the way back to Eve in the Garden of Eden it's part of God's design in creation and we thank God for you you are a sign of his grace to us and we want to be a church that cares for you as mothers let's pray dear Lord I do thank you for uh this day i thank you for our moms i thank you that to have a mom and to be a mom is a part of your design in creation this is something that has been part of your plan from the very beginning thank you for the beauty of that design we thank you for the significance that means in terms of the the role the family is to play in our each one of our lives the role that the church is to play in the lives of those families we ask that we would be grateful for our mothers every day we ask that you would help us to regularly remember to share that gratitude with our moms if we are able if they're still alive um even if our relationship with our mothers is contentious and somehow um fractured I ask that you would help us to be able to look and to see even the slightest glimpses of the remainder of the beauty of that creation the mother family dynamic ask that you would help us as a church to be a community that cares well for mothers we ask all this in your name amen

On Mother's Day, I turned to social media to explore descriptions of motherhood and what it means to be a mother. The wisdom shared was profound: one person described being a mom as taking a job with no training or experience, where quitting is not an option and people's lives depend on you. Another said, "A mom is someone who can take on any role but cannot be replaced by anyone." I particularly loved the insight that being a mom is having the ability to discern whether a child broke a crayon or an arm just by hearing their cry. My favorite, though, was the humorous truth that being a mom means ruining a child's day by making them take a bath, only to ruin it again 15 minutes later by making them get out.

Today, I want to discuss mothers from a fresh perspective, focusing on how we, as a church, can care well for them. To do this, we must first consider what the Bible says about motherhood, viewing it not as a burden but as a beautiful gift from God. In the early chapters of Genesis, we see motherhood as part of God's created order, designed to be a central element of creation, declared "very good." Even after the fall in Genesis 3:16, where God tells Eve that pain will accompany childbearing, the act of bearing children remains a blessing, not a curse. The pain is the consequence, not the role itself. Genesis 1:27-28 further emphasizes this, as God creates male and female in His image, blessing them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. This command, central to God's purpose, grants women the unique privilege of bearing children. Eve's very name, meaning "life" or "lifegiver," underscores this role, as she is called the mother of all living. Psalm 127:3 reinforces this, with David declaring, "Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." Motherhood is a divine gift, producing children who are blessings from God. James Dobson captures this beautifully, stating, "There is no more important job in the universe than to raise a child to love God, live productively, and serve humanity." It is tragic that society often views motherhood as a burden rather than a contribution, a perspective that contradicts the biblical view.

Yet, we must acknowledge that motherhood, while beautiful, can be challenging. Pregnancy brings physical difficulties—sickness, mood swings, back pain, heartburn, and frequent discomforts—all part of the curse described in Genesis. Childbirth itself requires pain management, whether natural or assisted. Beyond pregnancy, raising children can be emotionally taxing, with countless decisions about nutrition, schooling, and care. Consider Monica of Hippo, the mother of Augustine, who prayed tirelessly for her wayward son as he pursued a hedonistic lifestyle. Her persistent prayers and fasting, despite the pain of watching him stray, eventually saw him come to faith in his early thirties. Similarly, Samson's mother, unnamed in Scripture, faced the burden of raising a son destined to be a Nazirite, only to see him live selfishly, breaking his vows. Such stories highlight the emotional weight mothers often carry, sometimes second-guessing their choices and feeling the pain of their children's struggles.

Mother's Day can evoke a mix of emotions. For those who have lost mothers, it may bring grief. For those with strained relationships or who have experienced mistreatment, it can surface pain. For women unable to have children, like Sarah or Samson's mother, the day may highlight unfulfilled desires. Yet, for those with loving relationships, it is a day of joy and gratitude. Regardless of these varied experiences, the Bible affirms that motherhood is a blessing to humanity, even amidst its challenges.

As a church, we must rise to support and empower mothers, recognizing the high calling and heavy demands of their role. Scripture provides four ways to do this. First, we can teach mothers to be good mothers. Titus 2:3-5 instructs older women to be reverent, avoid slander, and not be enslaved to wine, teaching younger women to love their husbands and children, be self-controlled, pure, kind, and diligent at home. This intergenerational imparting of godliness happens through modeling—showing younger women how to resist selfish impulses—and through teaching, offering wisdom on succeeding in their roles. Unlike unsolicited advice from strangers, this guidance from godly older women is invaluable, especially when new mothers feel unprepared, as many do when leaving the hospital with their first child or navigating unexpected parenting challenges. The church can be a resource, ensuring mothers don’t feel alone.

Second, we can honor mothers. Exodus 20:12 commands, "Honor your father and mother," a directive repeated by Jesus in Matthew 15, Paul in Ephesians 6, and elsewhere, carrying the promise of a long, good life. Honoring mothers involves obeying them, as Ephesians 6:1 urges children to do. It also means listening to their counsel, as Proverbs 1:8-9 advises, treating their instruction as valuable. Respecting mothers is crucial, with Proverbs 30:17 warning against mocking or scorning them. Even when we disagree or feel they don’t understand, respect remains essential. Providing for mothers, especially widows, is another way to honor them. In 1 Timothy 5:4, Paul instructs children and grandchildren to care for widowed mothers, a duty Jesus exemplified on the cross by entrusting Mary to John’s care. Solomon honored his mother, Bathsheba, by rising, bowing, and seating her beside his throne. Even when mothers are wrong, Christians must show honor, distinguishing themselves by this obedience, respect, and provision.

Third, we can care for widows, a repeated biblical command in James 1:27, John 19, and Acts 6. Widows, especially those without family or unable to remarry, rely on the church. James calls caring for them a sign of true religion, offering kindness without expecting repayment. Acts 6 illustrates this, as the early church appointed seven men to ensure widows received daily provisions, recognizing their value and the church’s duty to meet their needs.

Finally, we can lighten mothers’ loads, as Galatians 6:2 calls us to bear one another’s burdens. Motherhood, whether for stay-at-home moms, working moms, or single moms, can be overwhelming. Each mother’s needs are unique, requiring the church to be observant and flexible, identifying opportunities to help. This might involve practical support, emotional encouragement, or other tailored assistance. I invite you to share ideas on how we can better support the mothers in our midst.

Mothers are a blessing to families and the church, fulfilling a role designed by God since creation. As a church, we thank God for them, seeing them as signs of His grace. Let us pray: Dear Lord, thank You for mothers, a part of Your beautiful design from the beginning. We are grateful for their role in families and the church. Help us express gratitude daily, even in fractured relationships, and to see the beauty of Your creation in them. Guide us as a church to care well for mothers, supporting and empowering them. We ask this in Your name, amen.