A Mother’s Love

As we stood on the stage in the chapel of Valley Forge Christian College I watched my wife hand our firstborn son to Sister Smith. It was dedication day. To the best of our knowledge our son is the only child to have ever been dedicated during a chapel service at the college. Sister Smith was the College President's wife. I don't remember much of anything that was said that day, but there was one thing I never forgot. She looked at Sarai and told her, if your child come's to know Christ at a young age it will largely be because of your influence on his life. She was right.

In Paul's letter to Timothy he writes, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also." II Timothy 1:5.

The impacts our Mom's have on us is profound. Mother’s Day will soon be upon us. To all the Mom's out there I say, "Thank you!" Thanks for putting up with all the sibling fights, the messy rooms, the stained shirts, the stressful nights, the back talk, the trouble in school, and so much more. You stuck by us, kept encouraging us, and modeled unconditional love like no one other than God himself could do.

There’s a powerful account in the Scriptures we are told to reveal Solomon’s wisdom that also reveals a Mother’s love. There were two women who lived in the same house who both had babies at the same time. Tragically, one of the women rolled over onto her baby during the night and the baby died. What happened next is hard to comprehend. She took her child’s body and placed it in the bed with the other woman, and took her baby as her own. Obviously, no Mother would fall for this. This, however, was a day of no photos, no birth records, no blood tests, etc. It was one woman’s word against the other. 

The two women ended up before Solomon, who after hearing the story rendered a shocking verdict. “Cut the baby in half. They can each have half a baby.” Before his decision could be acted on one of the women began yelling, “Let her have the baby!” Solomon then responded by ordering the baby be given to the woman who was willing to give the baby up. He knew no Mother would allow such harm to come to her child. A Mother’s love is simply too powerful.

Mom’s thanks so much for how powerful your love is for your children. You rock!

Oh, and in case my Mom reads this and remembers some of the fights my brothers and I had when we were young, "They started it!"

Following the Son,

James A Williams