Yes, I am a Mom. A Homeschooling Mom. A Stay-at-Home, now Work-from-Home Homeschooling Mom. With all that entails. It’s just who I am. It’s who I’ve become.
In the sermon we had today, the pastor referenced John 2, the story of Jesus turning water into wine. But, he talked about it from the perspective of Mary, which I found fascinating. Here are a couple of points that I wanted to share.
First of all, Mary was a MOM. A MOM,with bold and underlines! She was a mom first, with all that entails! Even when the family was not her own, she was mothering in the background! Why do I think this? First of all, she was attending a wedding, so she must have known the family. But she also must have known them really well. Who was one of the few and possibly the first to find out they ran out of wine? Mary! Seriously, who else would have been doing that, but a total “mom”??????
I think of this example, and I think of all those women I had surrounding me growing up – not just my own mom, but all those who had a hand in mothering me:
My lovely Sunday School teachers who pretty much just loved me into Jesus as a child. For everyone one of you who are called to teach my children on Sundays and Wednesdays, Happy Mother’s Day.
Those surrogate moms, the ones who were moms of friends, who ran carpool with us and had my own mom on speed dial, kept an eye out on school trips, and I knew had the added permission/blessing of getting to give me that parental stink-eye when needed and my own mom wasn’t there do it herself, Happy Mother’s Day.
To those moms who taught me, the teachers who made a point of reaching out and making a real connection. To those who made sure I knew I was a real person in their eyes, not just a number. Whether you helped me get past fractions, or the proper way to pirouette, Happy Mother’s Day.
Those moms out there that didn’t know who you were, the women I looked up to, who showed me what grace, confidence, pure joy, and poise looked like, who were shining examples of being a woman, even more – being a Southern Lady while being a woman (and all you who have ever lived in the South understand what that is) – and a few did that without even being Southern!! Happy Mothers Day.
To some dear, sweet friends, who took me under your wing when I first became a Mom myself, who laughed and cried and just kept telling me, “Yes this is all completely NORMAL.” To the ones who encouraged me and told me, “trust those Momma instincts and follow them,” who opened up and let me see the “man” behind the curtain – guess what, they didn’t have it all figured out either? Happy Mother’s Day.
And you know what else strikes me about this passage? Mary wasn’t just “the mother of Jesus.” She was his MOM. His M-O-M mom. Seriously, who else would walk up to the Savior of the World, the one who had been prophesied about and had angels sing as his birth, and tell him what to do???? Only His Mom would, of course!
Cause a MOM doesn’t care who you are, she’s gonna get in your face and tell you the truth, no matter what. Mary knew exactly who her Child was. She SAW Him, saw Him for exactly who He was. She knew all that, but she was a MOM, and a MOM is going to make sure you live your potential and destiny. A MOM is going to believe in your potential, and live in complete faith of what you are called to be. (A quick joke aside, can you imagine being the mom of Jesus – being in the position of having a “come to Jesus” talk with your child, except He was ACTUALLY Jesus? How absolutely wild that would be?)
A MOM is also going to make sure you are equipped to the best of her ability. She couldn’t turn the water into wine (being a mom, she’d have already done that herself if she could). She couldn’t fill the containers with water. But she made sure Jesus was equipped to do it. I know that sounds wrong – did Jesus really need help doing anything? I dunno, but I do know she got those servants together and made sure they were ready to obey His commands.
A MOM is also gonna step back and let you go. This MOM knew that at some point you have to step back and just let your children be. Let them fly own their own. And Mary did that. She believed in her Son, she did whatever was in her power to equip that child, and she stepped back and let Him do what He needed to do.
So, to my own mom, who accepted me for the crazy, outgoing, extroverted actress that I set out to be; who pushed me to be all that I could and should be and never ever let me settle for “mediocre,” but also let me be me, who accepts that I feel called to be a homeschooling mom even when to her that seems completely insane, and who still to this day I think would pull out a can of %$#$%# her momma bear-ness when either of her cubs is hurt, Happy Mother’s Day.
There are all kinds of Moms in this world, and whichever one you happen to be, Happy Mother’s Day.
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