Stay Calm and Call Your Mom!

Have you ever noticed that when you have big exciting news you look for another person to tell that will get almost as excited as you do?  Growing up that person for me has always been my mom.  I knew whatever I told her good news wise, she was going to be just as excited as I was, maybe even more! It didn’t matter whether it was getting an A on a paper in school, getting engaged to my husband, having ALL of our kids (she got excited over each and every one!) I always knew I could count on my mom to share my joy.

She was always my confidante too, listening when I needed a shoulder to cry on, understanding how I felt, and knowing what to say.  She’s always been my rock; in life and in faith. 

As we approach Mother’s Day in May, I ask you to take another look at your own mother.  Not all mothers are the same, they don’t all react in the same way as mine did, but the woman who bore you, and raised you is your mom and has a vested interested in everything that happens to you.  This year, not only am I blessed to share Mother’s Day with my own mom, but I have a daughter who is expecting her first child, so three generations of us get to celebrate motherhood.  I am blessed.  There is also another mother who watches over us too, Jesus’ mom.  She is everyone’s mother as Jesus made her when he said from the cross to John, “This is your mother.”  He wasn’t just talking about John, but all of us, the rest of the generations. He knew we ALL need a mom in life.  And even if our earthly mother isn’t with us anymore, our heavenly mother is always near.  And of course, she is whispering to our own mothers, whether they are in heaven or on earth,  what we need.  She is the ultimate mother of all.  

So when life is exciting or getting you down, remember to “stay calm and call your mom.”  She is always there for you!

Easter Forgiveness

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, looking down he doesn’t see any of his apostles. John was there with his Mother, but nobody, not even Peter was brave enough to be there at this death.  Yet Jesus could still say, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”  How awful would it be if all your friends left you at the moment you were dying?  Can you imagine leaving your family member or friend when they had been wrongly accused and were sentenced to death? Where were all those people who petition the court and ask for a stay of execution when Jesus needed them?

Of course we don’t live in those times, in the United States we have the freedom to speak up and demand justice.  The Jews, even those loyal to Jesus did not have that freedom. 

So what excuse do we give for not forgiving someone who has wronged us? Maybe it’s a minor hurt but it could be a huge life changing hurt.  Can we be as forgiving as Jesus?  I think about hurts in my own life and realize sometimes it has taken me a really long time to forgive.  There’s a hurt I am nursing right now that I am having to work really hard on forgiving.  And what happens when someone wrongs us and doesn’t even ask for our forgiveness?  You may have people like that in your life too. 

Easter reminds us that even these people have to be forgiven.  Most of the Jews that brought Jesus before Pilate didn’t say they were sorry, at least not before his death.   But he forgave them as well as the sins we are committing right now while he hung on the cross in excruciating pain.

Help me Lord to forgive, especially in this season of Easter. Let me learn from you how to forgive. I may not yet forget, but I know I must forgive so all my sins will be forgiven by you when I come Home.