Mothers

A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: “My full name has six letters. The first letter is M. I pick up things. Who am I?” When the test papers were turned in the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word Mother. I think it was the “picks up things” that confused them.

Here are some answers from elementary age children about their mother. “Why did God make Mothers?” 1) She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is. 2) Mostly to clean the house. 3) To help us out when we were getting born. “How did God make Mothers?” 1) Magic, plus super powers and a lot of stirring. 2) God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts. “What ingredients are Mothers made of?” 1) God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and a dab of mean. 2) They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think. “Why did God give you your Mother and not some other mom?” 1) We are related. 2) God knew she liked me more than other people’s moms like me. “What kind of little girl was your Mom?” 1) My mom has always been my mom. 2) I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy. 3) They say she used to be nice. “What did Mom need to know about Dad before she married him?” 1) His last name. 2) She had to know his background. Like, is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer? Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say No to drugs and Yes to chores? “Why did your Mom marry your Dad?” 1) My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot! 2) My grandma says she didn’t have her thinking cap on. “Who’s the boss at your house?” 1) Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goofball. 2) Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees stuff under the bed. 3) I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad. “What does your Mom do in her spare time?” 1) Mother’s don’t do spare time. 2) To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long. “What would it take to make your Mom perfect?” 1) My Mom’s perfect; on the inside. 2) Diet. You know; her hair. I’d diet, maybe blue.

[Luke 2: 51b-52] Neal Pryor, Old Testament teacher at Harding University, tells a story from his college days about a buddy of his who stopped by his dorm room one evening. He could tell his friend was in a bit of a funk. And even though he was studying for a test, he could tell he was about to get the whole story. His friend plopped down oon the bed and began to recount the painful details of his girlfriend breaking up with him, his not making the grade in a class, how the cafeteria was out of his favorite flavor of ice cream, and how his pencil seemed to break in every class. Pryor wasn’t sure what to say to all of this. But sitting there staring at the floor, the friend finally said, “At least my mother still loves me.” We know very little about Jesus’ childhood, we do know how his mother cherished her son. “…his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and men.” When others had deserted Jesus, Mary was still there to love and comfort her son (John 19: 25-27). Abraham Lincoln once said that no one is considered poor if they were raised by a godly mother. Let us today, pray and be thankful for the ‘Mary’ in our lives.