Today, Sunday May 14
Happy Mother’s Day
Proverbs 31:28-31
“Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all." Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Happy Mother’s Day! Today, I want to take time to honor our mothers. I have been especially blessed with three of the greatest mothers in the world in my own life. My own mother, Albertina Kozlovsky Grooms, my mother-in-law, Louise Winston Obenshain, and my wife Edith, the mother of our children and Nana of our 18 grandchildren.
I know today can be especially difficult for many people because of several reasons. Maybe your mother passed away this past year and this is your first Mother's Day without her. Or even though it was years ago, you still missed her greatly. It might be that you could never biology give birth to a child and this day brings back the emotional pain and possible guilt you feel because of it.
It is possible that you grew up in a dysfunctional abusive family and you can’t recall too many good experiences with your mother. It is my prayer that what the devil meant for evil in your life, by God’s grace you will experience His spirit of forgiveness through Jesus Christ and find hope and healing to break that chain of pain and bad memories.
My mother-in-law, Louise, was never able to give birth to a child because of medical reasons. But she became a mother when she and her husband Elmer adopted two orphaned children, Edith and Peyton. Louise lost her husband to a heart attack when Edith was 10 years old and experienced another tragic lost a few years later when Peyton was killed in a gun accident. Louise never lost her faith and worked hard to be the best mother possible to my wife and took me in as her own son after we got married. She went to be with the Lord on February 10, 2001. We still love and miss her greatly.
A few years ago, I found in one of my mother’s Bibles a three by five index card with a handwritten prayer that my mother had written years earlier. Her prayer was: “That Mike may be filled with the knowledge of His will in wisdom and spiritual understanding, being fruitful every good work, to be strengthened with all might to His glorious power”. My mother loved the Lord and prayed for all five of her children. But I feel especially honored that we found this specific and personal prayer that she prayed for me and took the time to write and record it on this card.
Mothers, there is no greater legacy and gift that you can give to your children than your prayers along with a Godly life. Please take the time to pray for your children, especially in these very difficult days in which we live.
My mother went to be with the Lord on October 11, 2018, and we all missed her very much. She was an awesome grandmother and great-grandmother too!
I also want to honor my beautiful and wonderful wife Edith on this special Mother’s Day! I’m convinced the first thing that makes her such a great and wonderful mother is that she is an awesome wife! She prays for me, supports me, encourages me, corrects me, comforts me, and assists me. And maybe most of all, she forgives me often for all the foolish and dumb things that I do. And she is always there for me!
My wife, and the mother of our children, is also the reason we have been blessed with such wonderful children! She set an example before them of how to love others and accept them unconditionally. She showed them how to give up all the rights to yourself to serve and bless others. As a pastor’s wife, she was willing to give me up, and sacrifice her time with me, so that I could help and minister to other people.
If I have enjoyed any success as a pastor, it is because of the love, diligence, loyalty and prayers of my wife, the mother of our children, my mother, and my mother-in-law! These awesome women have sacrificed their entire lives for the sake of Christ and the Gospel! They truly and completely fit the description of the Godly Woman in Proverbs 31, and today deserve to be praised and to be blessed!
God bless!