Did you know that Mother’s Day is the 3rd most attended day in church after Easter and Christmas? I fall into the category of mamas who want nothing more for Mother’s Day than to worship together with my family, but this past Mother’s Day, it was not to be. I was too sick to attend service with my family.
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Every Sunday in church, my son, Daniel, diligently takes sermon notes. I read them aloud on the trip home and our family talks about the sermon and what it meant to each of us. This past Sunday, I told Maya that she too needed to take notes, because I didn’t want to miss any part of the Mother’s Day sermon. Yes, I can catch the entirety of it online, but I dearly wanted to see in my children’s handwriting what each of them felt were the most important points of God’s Word. It turned out to be my best Mother’s Day gift.
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Now I crave corporate worship. I desire it and I need it. If I cannot go to church on Sunday, I guarantee you, I will be grumpy by Wednesday! Not only do I love to praise and thank God for His steadfast presence in my life and the life of my family, but I need to be fed – to be filled with God’s Word and the revelations He brings to the pastor and those attending. I need to constantly be reminded, especially in difficult times, that my difficult times ain’t IT! I need to lift my arms to the One who is IT, who is everything! I come away from worship refreshed, my faith deepened, my soul aligned and my heart invigorated for whatever shall come my way in the week. To miss worship on Mother’s Day? – yeah, not a happy camper.
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My husband, Matt, as many people these days, has been out of work for more than a month now. Our family was living two paychecks to two paychecks and now my small one does not come close to making the stretch. I need to believe, more than ever, that God is with us – that He has a plan and a purpose for this difficult journey. My manna from heaven came on little white pieces of paper in the handwriting of my two children.
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After much time and debate with myself and my husband, I had finally decided that I was not getting better. I was going to have to spend our last dollars, with nearly a week to go until payday, on a visit to the urgent care, or risk losing a day of work as well. So there I sat, alone, on Mother’s Day, the last patient in the waiting room. I was very sick and without the benefit of my beloved Sunday worship time. This was not going to be a “grumpy by Wednesday” week. Oh no – I felt a full burden of discouragement bearing down on me and it was only Sunday evening.
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In times like these, I do not pray eloquently. Fortunately, in times like these, the God I serve does not expect or require eloquence. In times like these, my words are few, but to the point. Help me, Jesus. Show me something, Lord – anything. I need to see You now. I need to hear from You. Come, Lord Jesus. Be with me.
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Manna from heaven, on little white pieces of paper, in the handwriting of my children, tucked next to the tissue in my purse – sermon notes! – my children’s sermon notes!
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In the handwriting of my son, Daniel –
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1 Kings 17 – The Widow at Zarephath
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No water, no food, no rain, everything had dried up
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Son of woman got ill.
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Moms make the most out of everything
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Sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land
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Lord said: Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.
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He grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing.
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She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God. Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
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Elijah replied, Give me your son.
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Moved by a need this mother responded to the call
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God has the last word.
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Last word comes from God and Him alone.
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The mother watched God do amazing things, feed her family, raise her son from the dead and more.
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She was a provider
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Was prepared
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Was a protector
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Listened to the voice of God
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Bless you also
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From the hand of Maya -
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“The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not burn dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.” 1 Kings 17:14
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We stand on the Word of God.
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God has the last word on everything.
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God has the last word on everything.
Amen
