I often say that in heaven those who will get to sit next to Jesus are women.  Actually, I am not joking; I really believe it. The reason is, on this side of heaven women are under-appreciated.  It is therefore necessary that on that side of heaven, women are appreciated. But we don’t want to wait till we get to heaven to appreciate the women in our lives, do we?  Hence, we celebrate Mother’s Day.

While we celebrate this special day, perhaps it is good that we give more thoughts to how we appreciate our mothers.  I can think of several. Firstly, I don’t think they want to be worshipped as much as to be loved.  They don’t want to be worshipped because they are not perfect, and they don’t want to be treated as such.  The truth is mothers are human and as humans they make mistakes. So, what they want is for us to love them and to accept them as they are.   

Secondly, I don’t think they want to be praised as much as to be heard.  Praise is temporal and easy; we just think of nice words to say, then, we say it.  Conversely, to hear is permanent and difficult; not only must we expend our time and energy, we must also see them as important.  You see, mothers are important, not because they play an important role in our lives, but rather because they are our mothers.  They don’t have to do anything important to earn our appreciation; the fact they carried us for nine months and endured innumerable sleepless nights for us and because of us is enough.

Before He died, Jesus Our Lord asked His disciple John to look after His mother, Mary.  The Son of God loved and heard His Earthly Mother; consequently, He remembered her. This brought us to the last thought: I don’t think mothers want to be adored as much as to be remembered.  This is what brings them the most joy.

Pastor Paul