Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and our mothering women AND men. Even Jesus had the urge to gather us all like a hen gathers her chicks (Luke 13).
If there’s one PEACE that I appreciate on Mother’s Day (and every day), it’s the quiet time of early morning when the kids are sleeping. The cat may protest, but I will sit in the quiet of a day. It is not the freshness OF the new day that is as important that the new day IS fresh. It’s as peaceful as possible in a place that is supposed to be filled with peace. HOME.
It has been my pleasure to be a mom and work my butt off to re-obtain peace each morning, or at least appreciate the peace the Lord has brought me, even if the evenings are sometimes filled with fret and sleep is the default of collapse from the day. Now, in the morning we have put all that to rest even if temporary. No, not all sleep is peace or all peace is sleeping because Peace is an ongoing pursue-able cause. But sleep is sleep and a gift of a reset. Sleeping mornings is simply a “whew” for a moment… an acknowledgement of safe thus far… a chance to thank the Lord for HIS faithfulness.
The Lord has woken me up earlier to acknowledge that He is the one who has given me peace most assuredly.
Being a mom means following the Lord’s example in work, sacrifice, and teaching. Being a mom means relying on the Father for strength and direction and patience. Being a mom means that you will take the heat for doing the unpopular things, appearing uncaring because you ARE caring, and that’s just from your own crew. God understands that completely.
At the END of the day, there is only one good reason for why and how He raises us as His children and how we raise ours… LOVE.
At the BEGINNING of the day, there is only one good reason for savoring a moment of peace… LOVE.
Jesus said: “I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day…” – So, LET US ALSO PRESS ON, not in strife or pride, but in peace, in gathering the chicks who won’t gather easily, in being OK with being OK…
Thank You Lord for YOUR encouragement. You have brought us “safe thus far”…
Amen
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Luke 13: 31-35
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+13%3A31-&version=NIV
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In as troubled as David the King found himself at times, he appreciated the Lord bringing him back to Him any time and all the time, especially when straying off the path.
1 Chronicles 17:16-27
David’s Prayer
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men. “What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, Lord. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises.
“There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.
“And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you. “You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. You, Lord, are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.”
Debbie Upper 