In Honour of All of the Mothers

Mothering is not just for mothers.  It’s for all of us.  

When you really think about it, we all mother - single women and men, senior citizens, girls and boys - according to the gifts God has given us.

Genesis1:27 says that in the beginning God created humans in His image. And God describes himself throughout the Bible in masculine and feminine ways.  In Psalm 17:8, he mothers us under his wing .  In Deuteronomy 8:5, he fathers us with discipline (or vice versa if that is your family dynamic). Neither is wrong, we parent with all of the strengths He has gifted us with.  Does God only give the gifts of love, nurture, and culinary skills to women?  No more than he gives the gifts of physical strength, brains, and leadership to men. 

Most people agree that mothering is not defined by the act of giving birth.  On Mothers Day many churches and organizations honor women who adopt children, raise foster children or even miscarry in their pregnancies.  Is their love any less for those children?  As Christians we strive to love one another every day.  Every day, I watch many children "mother" my children- from the crossing guards at school to the cashier at Trader Joe's who passes out stickers. Stand up and be proud, you are a mother too.  Your love, acceptance, care and protection for those around you deserve to be acknowledged also.

 To teachers – You wipe tears and kiss boo boos, you produce learning, laughter, a big floppy hat decorated with colored flowers and feathers.

Mother's Day hat that Wilo made me

 To those who sit around me in church - You grace us with Skittles instead of disapproving stares, you return our rolling crayons instead of rolling your eyes, and you often follow us into the parking lot with a forgotten jacket or stuffed bunny.

 To my children -who read bedtime stories, provide homework help, and give playground advice.  They mother each other while I mother them back  (turn off the light and go to sleep).

Jaelin mothered Wilo from the day that she was born.

To the single dads, who mother their girls and boys with loving affection cooking animal pancakes, creating elaborate updos for wacky hair day, and making friendship bracelets after school. You are no less of a man through "mothering" - you are more like God. 

Kumar loves mothering all of the kids he meets.

  






Motherhood is not about mothers or even women. It is about Jesus’ love, his extreme and ultimate love that inspires us to share the experience of salvation with others.

 Motherhood is that tenderness and affection which God gives to each of us. Instead of celebrating a holiday that honors less than half of us here on earth, let us use this day to honor the affection and protection that is the core of motherhood.

 Let us honor the source of motherhood:  God’s love, from whom all creation, love and blessings flow.