Give her a Break

Mom’s Matter

Today is the day, set aside to honor and celebrate mothers. Moms are important people, they arguably have more influence on the affairs of the world than many give credit.

There are several passages that are found in scripture that talk about women, be it wives, or mothers. Some use scripture to “put women in their place,” others point to Eve and try and blame her for all sorts of things forgetting that free will was given to both of them. We read of Ruth, a woman whose loyalty was amazing to behold, and Esther the Queen given for such a time as this. There’s Mary, Martha, Mary again, Elisabeth, Michael, Deborah, the list grows, women of faith, women of courage, women of ill repute, the Bible is full of both, just as it is full of both when it comes to men.

Genesis makes it clear that women are made in the image of God

Genesis 1:27 HCSB

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.

All of this is true, all of this makes sense, and yet all of this is so easily forgotten.

Growing up in church we had certain things that were always celebrated.

Christmas Eve was Candle Light communion

New Year’s Eve we had what was called watch night service

Good Friday we had communion

Easter Sunday we had Sunrise service at 6 AM followed by breakfast and then regular church and Sunday school

Then came Mother’s Day and Father’s Day close on its heels.

Mother’s day week at our church, and yes I said week was marked by a special women’s Tea where the men served the food, parked the cars, escorted the ladies in. That Sunday every aspect of church was geared toward celebrating Mom, Service lasted longer mainly because of all the honoring that was done. Ballots were passed out in Sunday school for Mother of the Year, everyone voted. There were mother with most children present grandmother things, all sorts of ways mom was honored, at the end of service much like today here Mom walked away with a plant, and cards made by the kids, and it was just a huge deal.

Father’s day… not so much, oh yeah dad great job here’s a key chain…

I never understood the disparity and have at times joked about it to friends and colleagues. But if you and I really think about what all a mom is expected to do, well I get it.

Give her a break

Sometimes I think that we need to give her a break, but more importantly we need to give mom permission to take that break…

Moms are prepared

Mom’s Are Prepared

Image being this young boy, its early morning and he hears that the story teller is close by. This boy knows that the story teller is the best at what he does, he also knows what people have said about him, not only does he tell the best stories, but sometimes he does things that no one else can do. Sometimes he seems to be magic, healing people that can’t see or walk. The boy wants to go hear and see this man, and his mother wants to make it happen, She too has heard the stories, and while she understands it’s not “magic” she also knows that what is happening is not something you see every day. This mom like so many others wants the best for her child, she wants opportunity, and she wants ways for him to grow, and mature and make his own way in the world. She must also recognize the impact that this story teller can have on her child and so she does what any good mother would do, she packs him some food. She makes sure he has a lunch. What is it about moms, they think of the things that others take for granted. This mom has thought of what no one else thought of. She realizes the day will be long, and out of 5000 men, plus guests she’s the only one with the forethought to pack a lunch for the day ahead. I wish we could all realize that God give us all the ability to be prepared. Far from being a book of do’s and don’ts the Bible is a book of how’s. In its pages we can find the ways to be ready for what’s coming in our lives, and in those we loves lives. Comfort is there, peace is there, understanding, unconditional grace, a Love that can’t be explained. When we apply the things we read and learn in scripture to life, we are prepared for anything. Just like mom…

John 6:8–9 HCSB

One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

Image being this young boy, its early morning and he hears that the story teller is close by. This boy knows that the story teller is the best at what he does, he also knows what people have said about him, not only does he tell the best stories, but sometimes he does things that no one else can do. Sometimes he seems to be magic, healing people that can’t see or walk. The boy wants to go hear and see this man, and his mother wants to make it happen, She too has heard the stories, and while she understands it’s not “magic” she also knows that what is happening is not something you see every day. This mom like so many others wants the best for her child, she wants opportunity, and she wants ways for him to grow, and mature and make his own way in the world. She must also recognize the impact that this story teller can have on her child and so she does what any good mother would do, she packs him some food. She makes sure he has a lunch. What is it about moms, they think of the things that others take for granted. This mom has thought of what no one else thought of. She realizes the day will be long, and out of 5000 men, plus guests she’s the only one with the forethought to pack a lunch for the day ahead. I wish we could all realize that God give us all the ability to be prepared. Far from being a book of do’s and don’ts the Bible is a book of how’s. In its pages we can find the ways to be ready for what’s coming in our lives, and in those we loves lives. Comfort is there, peace is there, understanding, unconditional grace, a Love that can’t be explained. When we apply the things we read and learn in scripture to life, we are prepared for anything. Just like mom…

Mom’s Take Charge

John 6:10 HCSB

Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000.

Jesus finds out what he has to work with, then tells the disciples to have everyone sit down. Sound familiar. Moms can take charge in a crisis, they see what is happening and get into the middle of the issue. They are willing to do the work it takes, to stand where others may be wish washy. To take on the seemingly impossible if it means a better outcome at the end. Jesus finds out what he has to work with and then starts the plan in motion. First the disciples are given a task…”make everyone sit down.” Think about that for a moment 12 guys are supposed to get 5000 plus people to sit down. Let’s do the math. We don’t know how many others were there, we do know that there were more than 5000 people though as it says the men alone numbered 5000 a small estimate of wives would be half of the men bringing their wives along that brings us to 7500, if we add just one child to each of those 2500 we end up having at least 10,000 people. Remember these are just estimates, guesses. But it is possible that there were that many. That means if we take that number each disciple was responsible for getting 833.3 people to sit down. Notice Jesus didn’t get everyone to sit down…he took charge, made a plan and began to implement that plan. Moms do the same thing. They can work all day and for some reason still be expected to do it all at night, but when you see them in action you can find that along with the things they do they have a way of getting work out of those around them, freeing themselves up to do the other things that must be done. Only after the initial task of getting everyone to sit down do we see Jesus take the loaves and fish, bless them, break them up and hand them to the disciples who then distribute to everyone sitting there.

Mom’s Provide

I find this point more interesting than any of the others in the story. Mom knows that it’s better to give their family the tools to live than it is to do the living for them. The understand that importance of giving you what you need, and they know what’s a need, and what’s a want. Mom’s the world over have learned that the wants can be powerful motivators, the best mom’s give you the tools you need to obtain the things you want. The people are hungry. Jesus recognizes this and so he gives the disciples the tools to meet the need. He blesses the loaves and fish and hands them to the disciples who then take those things and begin to distribute them…but there is something that we need to grab onto here. Something that we take for granted, at least I have taken it for granted. The disciples played an integral part in the feeding of the five thousand. For some reason the god of the universe has decided that his chosen method of reaching humanity is through other humans. Throughout the Bible we find God working toward the relationship he designed humanity to have, but we also see that it's not a one way street. God begins a process, he reaches out to humanity and we are supposed to reach back, but God goes a step or two further. There aren't many epiphanies any more, apart from the occasional sighting of the face of Jesus in some bizarre place We don't find a lot of talk of the Angel of the Lord, or the Son of Man or any number of the way's a sighting of God was described in the Bible, and while some people claim to have all sorts of dealing with angels, we don't hear of many legitimate sitings of the angel Gabriel popping up and talking to people. Our faith is to be replicated by contact with people like us, people who have faith that faith has come for any number of reasons, usually because someone we know, or respect, or love has taken time to share what faith in Christ is really about. We are given the tools to share our faith and as we do so, not so much in word, but in deed the community of believers grows. God gives us what we need and then releases us to do what we know we are supposed to do. Imagine what would have happened if the disciples had taken the bread and the fish that Jesus handed them, then looked at the huge group of people, and done nothing, what if they had said, "uh Jesus are you sure?" The disciples could have made the choice to stop the feeding of the 5000 in its tracks. Moms can put their lives into their children, many do, and they spend their time and energy in preparing their kids for the firsts in life. There's a reason that people say Hi Mom whenever something good happens to them. Dads are important of course, we teach our children some very important aspects of how to live but moms have a special ability to instill things in a child that go deeper and have lasting impact, and then moms watch as the child they love takes the tools they have given them, the things that they need and use them to make a life, that they hope is bigger and more expansive than the one they have led. The cool part is that the things mom gives us that we need are always more than enough to share and to still have leftovers for ourselves. When mom pours love into our life, and we take that love and share it there will always be more than we can share, when she pours care, and understanding and grace, and mercy, there will always be enough for others and when we need it some for ourselves too. Jesus does the same.

John 6:12 HCSB

When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”

He gives us the things we need to make our life mean more than we could ever ask think or imagine. He knows we need to be able to Love others, to forgive them, to give them grace and to serve them. He gives us what we need to do those things, and then when we need to forgive ourselves, when we need to look at our own lives with grace, and apply some mercy to our own problems or mistakes, because of who he is and what he gives there is always enough left over for our own use.

Mom’s don’t do it for the glory

John 6:14–15 HCSB

When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world!” Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.

Jesus was an interesting guy for so many reasons. I know that seems like a fairly basic and elementary statement, of course he was, but there is so much more to it than we sometimes think. Successful people are always goal oriented right? A driven person will always look for the next step in their chosen career field, the promotion, the title, and the accolades. I have been reading a book by Jon Acuff, I like his writing style, and he’s a great guy, a fellow Christ Follower and has written several books that while funny point to some really important truths. The book is called Do Over and in it he discusses how to move forward in life, how to look at and decide if it’s time to shake things up in your career. I maintain the principles are sound not just for a career but also for a church, or an individual life following Christ. I love the ideas in Do Over, and can’t help but think that Jon’s mom had a lot to do with the book even if it is dedicated to his wife. That’s a good thing and while I’m sure his mom is proud of her son, she didn’t raise Jon for the glory, she didn’t jump at the chance to be famous as the mom of Jon Acuff, and she was in his life, doing what she was supposed to do. She also knew when it was time to slip away by herself. Jesus fed all those people that day and in doing so wanted to point people in the right direction, to get them to realize that God had not left humanity to muddle along on their own. Everything Jesus did on earth pointed back to God. When the people decided to push things where they were not supposed to God Jesus slipped away. By all indications he was at the top of his game. This was the time, thousands of people saw and were part of the miracle, they were ready to put him into power, they wanted to make him King, the ultimate promotion at the time, but Jesus knew that this wasn’t the plan that god had, and so instead of riding the wave of excitement, instead of allowing things to get out of hand, he slipped away into the hills by himself. I wonder sometimes why? Why get alone, why take that break. There are all sorts of possibilities. It’s easy to get caught up in the good moments in life and when we make decision based on the highs, and fail to take into account the inevitable lows that will follow there is a danger of losing the lessons that we were meant to take away from the situation we are in. When we watch Jesus slip away we find him going to a place to regain perspective. I am sure that in that alone time Jesus took time to pray, to process, to rest and reset so that he could continue the mission he had been sent to perform. Moms are the same way. They don’t raise their children for the glory they may eventually get, they raise them because it’s what they were called to do. We must make sure that in our walk as Christ Followers we are doing the same thing. Taking time to slip away, and reset, so we can eventually meet the fullness of the task we were set to perform. Had Jesus let the people make him king the plan of reconciliation would not have worked. The same is true in our lives. If we look at short term success as the goal what God wants to do in and through us will not be realized.

This Week’s Challenge

1. Make contact with your mom, or grandmother or what woman made a significant impact into your life, thank her for showing the character of Christ even when she didn’t know she was doing it.

2. Slip away every day for 5 minutes so you can reset and re-center…

3. Check out Stuff Christians Like on the Web or get the Book, also check out Do Over by Jon Acuff.