In case anyone forgot, we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend.  If you did forget, you better get Mom something for her day on your way home.  An acquaintance of mine asked a mother what she wanted to hear on Mother’s Day, and she said, “I don’t want to be challenged, just encouraged.”  I think we can do both; challenging as a way of encouraging.

    Obviously I am not a mother, nor a dad, but I see my three sisters (and brother-in-laws), and I can appreciate the stress and tensions that come with being a parent.  You worry that you are not doing a good enough job at parenting. You second guess yourself, think that you should be doing more, and overall just see your impatience and other imperfections.

    Moms, that tension is there, that tension of whether or not you are doing well enough as a mom isn’t going to leave you, even on Mother’s Day. But there is a way to manage tension, to surf the tension in a way that can help you. And I do hope that you do receive some encouragement today that you are not in this alone. You have help and support.  We see it clearly in the passage we read from the Gospel of John a few weeks ago.

    Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.”  Here Jesus shows the source of that love. Jesus explains that all the things he has done for the apostles had been based on the fact his heavenly Father loved him. Jesus tells the apostles that he has passed on what he has received. We are what we are because someone loved us.

So as a parent, I think we all wonder if we are loving our kids enough. Can we give them the love they need? And the answer is no. No we can’t. Moms as much as it is in you to want to love your kids, you can’t love them the way they need to love but God can. God working in you and through you can love them the way you desire to really love them.

Moms, you don’t have enough all on your own to fill your kids need for love, but you don’t have to rely just on your own power. Look at what Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” Jesus’ ability to love his disciples derived from his intimate relationship with God the Father. He was capable of an incredible love for his disciples because he had a deep intimate relationship with his Father.  Jesus was able to lay down his life because he had experienced the love of his Father. Jesus made that relationship a priority and he didn’t allow the things he had to do to get in the way of his time with his Father.

Moms don’t allow all the different things you have to do get in the way of time alone with God. That’s “selfish” time you need to preserve. It isn’t selfish to have some quiet time alone, away from your kids.  That is time that will give the ability to love your kids in the way you want to love them – to provide both the compassion and wisdom and the discipline that is needed to truly love kids.

Moms, your capacity to love your kids more will come not from trying to just pour more into them, but from allowing God to pour into you. Set aside some time each day to be alone with God and allow him to pour into you. Allow him to fill your cup so you can pour into the lives of your kids. Read the Bible, have some quiet time of prayer, but in some way allow God to pour his grace into your heart, into your soul, into your life so that you have the power to love your kids as you desire to love them. God wants to give you his grace and power and pour into you so you can be the best mom you can be, the mom you want to be. Take him up on that offer. God wants to pour his grace into your life but it is very hard to pour into someone that never stops moving. Slow down and let God give to you.  

Jesus also says, “Love one another.” This is Jesus’ commandment, He wants us to love one another. It’s that simple and that hard. And I think at the end of the day this is the best gift any mother can receive.