Second Mother

I'm always pulled in by cartoons. Can you actually see this one?

Get there at motherhood Incorporated human resources in those of the applicants thing. One day, when vacation days a year, that's all I get ladies as we call it Mother's Day but technically you still have to work. so if you're thinking that same thing, you know, food to cook and clean up and how is this Mother's Day or

big uncomfortable thing was we're going to cook you breakfast if you know but she did what the kitchen would look like after the breakfast since I was like how about IHOP I love IHOP.

I probably heard this before when I was about eight years old. I got to think about the Mother's Day Father's Day. It was actually Father's Day and so I went to my dad and I said there's Mother's Day and then about a month later, we have Father's Day when is Kid's Day. And he clenched his teeth. And he said every day is

I had no idea what he meant, but I knew not to say anymore. Was sounded in the move on to something else. Mother's Day is a secular holiday obviously, but there's all kinds of connection to what we do in our face. And what we do when our relationships together with Mother's Day fact. The only thing that out the only thing, one of the things that jumps out at us as we don't do this often enough, it says very clearly and roll. If someone is due respect. Respect, is someone is due honor? That's what the world is trying to do today is the honours of people who feel very special task. But certainly, we could do that more and more and more. And I'd like to feel that if we go for 42 things today over the years, I've toyed with an idea for times, and I finally decided to do this year. One reason for that is my own personal situation, but we got to change gears just a little bit and kind of look at Mother's Day from a little different angle. how many of you had a second mom, don't have to hold your hands out but How many of you are a second mom? How many of you have been multiple sick? Mom, so multiple people, and then you could go on and on, and on, with the questions, and the point it quite simply is being a mom, is a huge job. It's overwhelming undertaking. And the one thing that you see so clearly, is that there is so much to do when it's such a challenge and fortunately, across this process. There have been times through all times when other people have stepped up to help in ways large and small and come to be known as described and felt to be the second mom. Second mom is a term of endearment someone who while not a biological mother takes on a significant motherly role of a child's life providing the love and support and guidance, this could be anyone who fills a void or complements the role of the biological mother, it can be long-term or as brief. As a moment, I certainly church family in church relationships. Give us the opportunity to see families and to actually step in and provide assistance. And when we in our church families, start to be those second parents, and everybody gets stronger and there's lots of benefits. There, we can find the examples in the, in the Bible and I wish we were to class. I'd like to say example. Do you think you've certainly Pharaoh's daughter jumps as a second mom? But I've drawn completely to Ruth and Naomi.

Ruth chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. You know, Naomi is going back to her home country. She's leaving Moab and she sends her two daughters-in-law back to their own family. And the one daughter-in-law goes back to her own family. But Ruth is not willing to do that. And she says, words, that many of you could quote with me, don't believe you are turned back from you, where you go, I will go and where you stay, I will stay your people will be my people and your God, my God, where you die, I will die and there I will be married. May the Lord deal with me being ever. So severely, if even death separates you, and me when they owe me, realize that roof was determined to go with her, she stopped urgent, her eyes, she became not only her mother-in-law, but her second mom. This turned out to be a pretty positive situation. Sometimes there are voids that are created in the life of children that can be so massive, and sometimes certainly destructive a few weeks back. I was talking about my own dad and how his mother died when he was 3 years old. And later in the four-year, there were several people who came. There were asking me questions about his situation in various kinds of things. And so, when I start thinking about this topic, dad situation comes back up. There was three years old, in 1930, to his younger brother. In, in birth, his mom died in childbirth with the younger brother, and my grandfather would remain unmarried for at least another decade. and the interesting thing about that is if you put those times into your head that's 1 and 29 which is what start of the Great Depression and all through the thirties, this family dad and a boy and a baby are going to be trying to survive at this very hard time. My grandfather was blessed. He was a school teacher and a coach. And so he had a job. My biological grandmother, her own mother, had passed away. And she had two younger sisters, who lived with her. Father, they were teenagers. One of them was named or on the other thing was low, And my grandfather because he had a salary kind of fed both families for about a decade, and those two sisters. Those two teenage girls literally raised by father, and his brother, Now, they didn't do a perfect job because they weren't ready to do that task. It was a very difficult task of something that was very hard to do. Neither of them ever married. We always tease my dad, my uncle, that after exposure to the two of them for that period of time, they weren't taking any chances to go down that road again. But only, as I've gotten older have, I realized how much of a debt I owe to those two teenage girls. I mean my own father was shaped by what they were willing to do and clearly they put their own lives on. Hold To fill a role for their older sister. And it was a precious little wonderful thing to do. we see people all across our world, Who for one reason or another can't be either a mom at all or a full-time mom. Sometimes it's because of illness. Sometimes, it's because of death, somebody Kansas because of life's circumstances. Sometimes it's the things that that we bring into our lives and the things that complicate our lives so quickly about 25 years ago, I had some contact with a little boy. He's five years old and he's having some problem to school, it's really sweet. Little kid is so kind of got involved with him and he and I sat down one day and I asked him to bring his mother and he did the next time. His mother is 19 years old. She has a five-year-old son. and for other kids, she's totally overwhelmed. The people that like the ladies and ladies class went well I could help her you know I can do this. I could do that to do some things that she didn't know how to do before and she just got a whole handful of second moms and it turned out to be a really good thing because all the people involved were willing to address what was going on there. Sometimes difficult task pop up and families and it's hard to do all the tasks. Just on the normal basis, is difficult to do all the tasks that need to be done. But if you have something special to deal with, Connecting get even more complex. I like so much. That term Big Mama used to be more of a cultural term, but in the last 10 years but Mom, you know, the mother's mother, the matriarch of the group and it's not about size. It's about who really

We can hold the family together who can pull us together, who can get us through. Maybe some of the most difficult moments moments that we couldn't deal with by ourselves and some families. There's an here or there may be her own life is not as full. Maybe not, maybe she steps in it and it's helpful. And I can think of times in our lives, my life is a family where, you know, those sisters and siblings have come through and moments when I just really needed some help and it was so grateful to have him do that. Nobody has it all make mistakes. We all are going to need more, but I'm going to need some help at some point in time, if we stand ready to do that to be immensely helpful to other people the other things. So critical is

They need other people who show them that the values. Their parents are teaching them are actually valid. And that's where s moms and church Grandma's at church, Grandpa's all CertiFit in, because he's not just saying this, but they find other people who were reinforcing with there, being taught reinforcing, what they're learning people in their context or a living. According to what they're teaching. And that has tremendous important to teaching messages to children.

Harry. Second mother was a lady by the name all the money Terry was very fortunate that most of her life. She spent with her own, but when we first moved to Houston later Jack and George would move there and later both of our siblings with moved there. When we first moved there it was just us and all go was the lady at church, she was an Elder's why she was the coordinator of the preschool department. And she was just playing Leah Fountain of Knowledge and encouragement. We were going to mission trip taking a bunch of kids to Southeast, Georgia RV in half an hour, what we were doing, but we were going anyway cuz I got somebody to take care of Sean. He's like a year old and it's a very last minute that person's is. I can't do it to all that. What do I do?

The best gift you can give your children flexibility, just go for. It was nice to have somebody who can reach outside your mom's. For her, for just a second. Now, there's some challenges are there really are? We have to be careful about the way we do this and I thought, well, I'll try to give some guidelines there, but the guidelines would take forever. So if you're really concerned about that, I'd sure be willing to have private conversations about how to make that work as much as possible. The other category are those meaningful moments. real people who just come through in a in a moment in your life when you really needed something, when it was your baby at a Crossroads or there's just something that you have to have whether be physical, or emotional, or spiritual, which is a great situation, we find ourselves in Yep, meaningful connection. When God opens doors for us to contribute. When my father-in-law Jack stamps, got ready to retire. He plan to be by a little manufacturing concern and he had some things. He was going to get involved in getting bothered to tell his wife that and that he didn't bother to tell his daughter that other daughter. And so they had made plans for Grandpa to babysit the other sister's four-year-old. And when they said it was 3 to 2 everyday and that name was Sergeant Roth. Yeah, because he was the problem between Sarah and Jack was it. The idea that she was in charge of Grandpa. Kind of you kind of have the Zookeeper kind of contacts to know. If you don't keep an eye on Grandpa, he's going to get away from you. You know where you're going to find him again. So Jack supposed to be taking care of her, she think she's supposed to be taking care of, then he said to several people that she was the toughest boss I ever had. But of all the grandkids. Sarah's the closest. She's the one who made the drive over and over and over again. She's the one that was with Mima as much as she could possibly be a grandpa as much as she can possibly be because I'm there for those couple of years. There were so many meaningful moments that took place between those three people. That it created a structure that was just really, really strong valuable and useful. Yeah, there are opportunities for us to Fill in the gaps or take up the slack or handle. Something that needs to be handled or confirm or or fist created opportunity. May be the mom couldn't handle at that particular moment. Do things quickly this morning if you had second mom, Be thankful, be thankful for that person if that person is still around and you have not permitted to thank him, that would be wonderful. If not, we can always go to our fathers. Like, thank you for these individuals who pitched in and helped and very special what the other thing that it causes us to do. Hopefully, it's a look around and see other children that I could be helping, I don't have to take, but I can pray for them. Every time I pray, I can make myself available to do a special errand or answer. A special request to give Mom some help that she needs so much. 2nd Timothy chapter 1. Verse 5. Alright to Timothy. It says I'm reminded of your sins to your face which first live in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded now lives in you.

Your first mother or your second mother and yours. You've gotten so much there and then let me share with you from Isaiah chapter. 66 Is this the very last chapter of the book of Isaiah that we have I will extend Peach to her like a river and The Wealth of Nations like a flooding stream. You will nurse and be carried on her arm and dangled on her knees as a mother Comforts her child. So, will I comfort you? And you will be comforted over Jerusalem. We understand what the Bible talks about, but it talks about a mother's Comfort. We're familiar with that, we've experienced that and hopefully in one way or another. We shared that with each other. I made that much impossible. Double quick thoughts in the lesson is yours.

But we lived in Houston.

We had some really good friends and I told you the story about this story before the young woman, Denise is 29 years old and she had a aneurysm rupture and she died that day. She had to preschool kids. Her little boy was a stack of the same age as Jonathan and on Sunday mornings. After Bible class, you could go around and find Michael and Jonathan call them Kelly, the end looking in all the classrooms at church. What do you do when you guys were looking for? Michael's Mommy?

In another state. There's this lady, her name is Barbara. And she was in. Terrible. Terrible depression. She had been at a river with her two-year-old and the two-year-old that I actually accidentally falling into the river and drown. And this guy Henry, Is introduced to Babs and Babs. Looks at Michael and says, that's my child. And Michael said, that's my mom. And that's what happened. It was just a beautiful thing to see him grow up and become such a good man, because there's another Christian woman who stepped into his life and said, okay, I'm I'm sick of mom but I'm willing to do that because I see the power it's available here. Don opens opportunities like that to us large and small and invites us to step through the door and do the things he's asked us to do the bus out of that process. Would you play with me?

You got to be thank you for the role of mothers. We know that that's a critical and important role we think. So, you know this is family is a critically important role in your plan for how people are not only brought into this world. A to deal with this world and cope with this world and ultimately move on to the next world is wrapped up in this family relationships. Father, we play pray for strength for all the moms as they do this difficult task and we pray that at moments when it might seem that, that job is getting too big. That there will be others around them, who can help them easier turmoil, who could ease their concern, who can help him to understand, People who can just be supportive. Father, we thank you for the facts of all of us work together to be supportive of our own Families. Our Own situations. We thank you for that. Bless us and guide us and strengthen us help us all to be successful and help us all to arrive on the Heavenly Shore and be so grateful to see, not only you, but each other, we pray this for your precious son. Amen.