HONORING MOM
A Legacy of Faith, Family, and Love for Life
“Honor your father and your mother…”
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
—Exodus 20:12
1. My Mom Provided Me with an Appreciation of God’s Creation.
I remember as a child sitting up on a stormy night, and my mom would turn all the lights off in the house and open the curtains in every room so that we could watch the lightning as it flashed across the sky and just sit in awe of what God allows to take place.
My mom loved to take pictures of nature…animals, flowers, wide open fields and towering mountains. She thought each thing was the most wonderful thing that God ever created.
The only thing that she loved more was her family.
She knew that God created each of us and that He intimately knew us.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
—Psalm 139:13-14
She brought life and excitement into our lives, and it created an atmosphere of hope and enjoyment that sprang from her love of God and all that He created.
She showed us who God was every time she pointed out the beauty of a rock, the delicateness of a plant, or the uniqueness of each of her children.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
—Romans 1:20
My mother had an appreciation of God’s creation that overflowed in her and spilled out to everyone that she would come in contact with.
Reflection
What did your mother provide to you?
2. My Mom Taught Me the Importance of Family.
My mother understood how valuable each person in our family was to one another.
We protected one another.
My siblings and I had a good time picking on one another…it was a sport to us. If we could make someone cry that was a victory.
However, no one outside the family better try and do the same.
We learned from one another.
Each of us grew up in the same house with the same rules and we each turned out a little differently. I see attributes of each of my parents and siblings in decisions that I make and opinions that I have.
I like to believe that they may have learned something from me as well.
We built our own character from the relationships that we each had together.
Each of us are who we are today because of the relationships that my mom fostered among us.
We aren’t the perfect family, but we are a family that loves each other and learned how to work through difficult times.
My mother helped facilitate those things because she believed…
“Children are a heritage from the Lord…”
—Psalm 127:3
She lived faithfulness in her marriage, and she taught her children to do the same.
She showed us what it looked like to take care of her parents as they aged.
We traveled to see them quite frequently.
She listened to their wisdom.
She helped take care of their needs.
She showed them gratitude and respect.
And more than any of those things…she just spent time with them.
Reflection
What was it that your mom taught you?
3. My Mom Encouraged Us Toward Christ.
I said this a couple of weeks ago, but we weren’t the “go to church every Sunday” family.
We went to church on major holidays and any time we went to visit my grandparents.
That didn’t mean that our parents weren’t showing us Christ.
My mom taught us Biblical principles in every aspect of our lives.
Lying was never tolerated.
Discipline was always available to help get our attitude right.
Respect for elders…kindness to others was always expected.
Help for those less fortunate was shown and modeled.
She talked to us about dating and what that should and shouldn’t look like.
Mom wasn’t perfect and she knew we weren’t either.
My mom led us spiritually toward Christ and allowed us to find our own way.
All 5 kids made decisions for Christ somewhere along the way because we were given the building blocks and encouraged to know God for ourselves…and not just accept our parent’s faith.
Because of that our faith was fortified because we were able to ask questions and find the answers through God’s Word and God’s people, and it was lived out every day by our mom and dad.
The legacy that my mother left spiritually lives on the lives of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
And that legacy started with her own mom who loved the Lord and led her toward Christ.
That relationship with God through Christ permeated her marriage and her motherhood.
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”
—1 Chronicles 16:11
Reflection
What did your mom encourage you toward?
4. My Mom’s Greatest Characteristic Was Her Love for Life.
There wasn’t a trip she wasn’t willing to make or a dream she wasn’t willing to explore.
My mother wanted to see everything she could.
The leaves turn in the Fall in Vermont.
The sunset on the lake where they lived.
Or…a grandbaby show up at her door.
She loved life and didn’t want to waste any of it just sitting around waiting for something to happen.
She believed the Bible when it said…
“That God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
—1 Timothy 6:17
And Jesus tells us that He…
“…came so that we may have life, and have it to the full.”
—John 10:10
My mom never met a conversation she didn’t want to have or a person that she didn’t want to get to know.
Everyone had value and she wanted to get to know them.
She loved to hear people’s dreams.
She loved to understand where people had come from and how that shaped who they were.
She saw the best in everyone and everything…unless you crossed her family…then there was nothing we could do to protect you from her.
You were on your own.
That love that she had for life came from her relationship with Jesus and she didn’t mind talking about Him.
Reflection
What was/is your mom’s greatest characteristic?
5. My Mom Showed Her Love by Praying for Her Children.
My mom prayed for our safety, and she needed to!
My mom prayed for our spouses long before we ever met them.
She prayed for our friends, our teachers and our decisions.
She prayed for God’s hand to lead us and she prayed that we would listen.
My mom prayed about everything and at times…that’s all she could do, because she understood that at some point every child has to find their own way.
It was at those moments she prayed that she had done enough…
Corrected enough…
Disciplined enough…
Lectured enough…
Loved enough…
Cared enough…
And pointed to Jesus enough that we would follow her lead and choose Him.
And by choosing Jesus we honored our mom and we still honor her today by modeling her example.
Reflection
How did your mom show her love? How do you honor her today?
Final Thought
A mother provides.
A mother teaches.
A mother encourages.
A mother loves life.
A mother prays.
The legacy of a mother can live on in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
It can be seen in the relationships she fosters within her family.
It can be seen in the way she cares for those she loves.
It can be seen in the way she points her children toward Christ.
It can be seen in the way she appreciates God’s creation and finds hope and enjoyment in what He has made.
And sometimes, when there is nothing else she can do, she prays.
The example of a mother can continue through the generations.
And by choosing Jesus, we honor our mom and we still honor her today by modeling her example.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
—Exodus 20:12
A Legacy of Faith, Family, and Love for Life
“Honor your father and your mother…”
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
—Exodus 20:12
1. My Mom Provided Me with an Appreciation of God’s Creation.
I remember as a child sitting up on a stormy night, and my mom would turn all the lights off in the house and open the curtains in every room so that we could watch the lightning as it flashed across the sky and just sit in awe of what God allows to take place.
My mom loved to take pictures of nature…animals, flowers, wide open fields and towering mountains. She thought each thing was the most wonderful thing that God ever created.
The only thing that she loved more was her family.
She knew that God created each of us and that He intimately knew us.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
—Psalm 139:13-14
She brought life and excitement into our lives, and it created an atmosphere of hope and enjoyment that sprang from her love of God and all that He created.
She showed us who God was every time she pointed out the beauty of a rock, the delicateness of a plant, or the uniqueness of each of her children.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
—Romans 1:20
My mother had an appreciation of God’s creation that overflowed in her and spilled out to everyone that she would come in contact with.
Reflection
What did your mother provide to you?
2. My Mom Taught Me the Importance of Family.
My mother understood how valuable each person in our family was to one another.
We protected one another.
My siblings and I had a good time picking on one another…it was a sport to us. If we could make someone cry that was a victory.
However, no one outside the family better try and do the same.
We learned from one another.
Each of us grew up in the same house with the same rules and we each turned out a little differently. I see attributes of each of my parents and siblings in decisions that I make and opinions that I have.
I like to believe that they may have learned something from me as well.
We built our own character from the relationships that we each had together.
Each of us are who we are today because of the relationships that my mom fostered among us.
We aren’t the perfect family, but we are a family that loves each other and learned how to work through difficult times.
My mother helped facilitate those things because she believed…
“Children are a heritage from the Lord…”
—Psalm 127:3
She lived faithfulness in her marriage, and she taught her children to do the same.
She showed us what it looked like to take care of her parents as they aged.
We traveled to see them quite frequently.
She listened to their wisdom.
She helped take care of their needs.
She showed them gratitude and respect.
And more than any of those things…she just spent time with them.
Reflection
What was it that your mom taught you?
3. My Mom Encouraged Us Toward Christ.
I said this a couple of weeks ago, but we weren’t the “go to church every Sunday” family.
We went to church on major holidays and any time we went to visit my grandparents.
That didn’t mean that our parents weren’t showing us Christ.
My mom taught us Biblical principles in every aspect of our lives.
Lying was never tolerated.
Discipline was always available to help get our attitude right.
Respect for elders…kindness to others was always expected.
Help for those less fortunate was shown and modeled.
She talked to us about dating and what that should and shouldn’t look like.
Mom wasn’t perfect and she knew we weren’t either.
My mom led us spiritually toward Christ and allowed us to find our own way.
All 5 kids made decisions for Christ somewhere along the way because we were given the building blocks and encouraged to know God for ourselves…and not just accept our parent’s faith.
Because of that our faith was fortified because we were able to ask questions and find the answers through God’s Word and God’s people, and it was lived out every day by our mom and dad.
The legacy that my mother left spiritually lives on the lives of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
And that legacy started with her own mom who loved the Lord and led her toward Christ.
That relationship with God through Christ permeated her marriage and her motherhood.
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”
—1 Chronicles 16:11
Reflection
What did your mom encourage you toward?
4. My Mom’s Greatest Characteristic Was Her Love for Life.
There wasn’t a trip she wasn’t willing to make or a dream she wasn’t willing to explore.
My mother wanted to see everything she could.
The leaves turn in the Fall in Vermont.
The sunset on the lake where they lived.
Or…a grandbaby show up at her door.
She loved life and didn’t want to waste any of it just sitting around waiting for something to happen.
She believed the Bible when it said…
“That God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
—1 Timothy 6:17
And Jesus tells us that He…
“…came so that we may have life, and have it to the full.”
—John 10:10
My mom never met a conversation she didn’t want to have or a person that she didn’t want to get to know.
Everyone had value and she wanted to get to know them.
She loved to hear people’s dreams.
She loved to understand where people had come from and how that shaped who they were.
She saw the best in everyone and everything…unless you crossed her family…then there was nothing we could do to protect you from her.
You were on your own.
That love that she had for life came from her relationship with Jesus and she didn’t mind talking about Him.
Reflection
What was/is your mom’s greatest characteristic?
5. My Mom Showed Her Love by Praying for Her Children.
My mom prayed for our safety, and she needed to!
My mom prayed for our spouses long before we ever met them.
She prayed for our friends, our teachers and our decisions.
She prayed for God’s hand to lead us and she prayed that we would listen.
My mom prayed about everything and at times…that’s all she could do, because she understood that at some point every child has to find their own way.
It was at those moments she prayed that she had done enough…
Corrected enough…
Disciplined enough…
Lectured enough…
Loved enough…
Cared enough…
And pointed to Jesus enough that we would follow her lead and choose Him.
And by choosing Jesus we honored our mom and we still honor her today by modeling her example.
Reflection
How did your mom show her love? How do you honor her today?
Final Thought
A mother provides.
A mother teaches.
A mother encourages.
A mother loves life.
A mother prays.
The legacy of a mother can live on in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
It can be seen in the relationships she fosters within her family.
It can be seen in the way she cares for those she loves.
It can be seen in the way she points her children toward Christ.
It can be seen in the way she appreciates God’s creation and finds hope and enjoyment in what He has made.
And sometimes, when there is nothing else she can do, she prays.
The example of a mother can continue through the generations.
And by choosing Jesus, we honor our mom and we still honor her today by modeling her example.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
—Exodus 20:12