Mother's Day - Part 2

In last week’s blog I had moms share about the greatest need in their lives. Here is one more response I wanted to share with you from a mom with grown and growing children. Jan E. shares…


“I feel the greatest need is keeping one’s perspective rooted in God and holding to one’s moral beliefs. There are so many pressures from the outside now - pressures to work so you can meet bills, pressures in the job, pressures to have your kids involved, pressures to give your kids the best, or to have the big home, the right clothing, a cool car. It’s easy enough to fall into traps and lose sight on what is important in our lives.

is a precious commodity, and it's difficult to balance time if you're working and taking care of a home and husband and kids and you've got the carpool going…and then there is still church!

Mom's need to look ahead, to think about what they want to be able to say years from now, to see what are the things they want their children and families to come away with at the end of their time on earth.

God HAS to be foremost in lives! We have family members who do not attend church, who never understood why church took priority for us, however, we also brought BACK family members to church because that was our talk, our focus. God is first, and then the people he has given us follow. That meant keeping our focused on prioritizing time and activities. With our kids, they were involved in sports and other things, but our rule was that if it meant a practice EACH Sunday that would pull the family apart from worship together, it was a no go. There are times Sunday worship cannot happen, but our church also has Saturday night, so we CAN make sure we are there.

We made it a priority to have dinner together each night as close to 100% of the time as possible. We set aside times to go places together - family trips, family vacations, and even parties we'd have or attend usually allowed the kids too because our friends felt the same way.

As we get older, we see family members and friends who have become ill and died. You don’t get time back. You possibly don't get to worship later or to call someone next week or to visit them next year. We don't know, so moms have to focus on who is around them and on who is utmost in their lives. All else will fall into place thereafter.”

Mission Possible

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20


This week I will be traveling to Florida for the board meeting of Mission Possible, one of the many mission organizations we support as a church. Mission Possible’s motto is, “Strategic projects, in historic times, for God’s glory.” MP (www.mp.org) is active in sharing the Gospel, training leaders, planting churches, and helping the poor on the other side of the world. I am blown away each year when we review what God has done through MP and we at Christian Life are helping them change the world through our support.

But like I said, they are only one of the many missionaries and organizations we support as a church family. I would like to invite you to visit the map in our church lobby and take a look at the various ministries and people we support. Take time to read a letter or two. Say a prayer for the various ministries. Allow God to speak to you about your involvement in world missions. Become a bigger part of building God’s kingdom around the world.

And by the way, Happy Mother’s Day! I would like to honor the mom’s in my life: my fantastic wife, Leslie, my godly mom and grandma, Gerry and Ella, my great sister, Jodi, and my wonderful mother-in-law, Kathy. I am proud of you all! You are the best!

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day has become a major holiday. Hallmark estimates that 150 million Mother's Day cards will be sent this year making Mother's Day the third largest greeting card holiday of the year. U.S. Americans spend an average of $105 on Mother's Day gifts. The phone rings more often on Mother's Day than any other day of the year, though Father's Day will have more collect calls. The busiest day of the year at car washes is the Saturday before Mother's Day. I guess what mom thinks still matters.

I have been blessed to have strong women and moms in my life. I have a wonderful mother who many know as Mrs. Merrill who has taught our children Sunday School for the past fifty years. I have had two godly grandmas Mary Merrill, who went to be with the Lord, and Ella Meade who I admire. I have a great sister, Jodi Bechtold, who impresses me with her mothering skills as her family continually grows. I have a wonderful and beautiful wife and mother of our boys, Leslie, who I grow to love more each day as I watch her love and care for our family no matter how complicated life becomes. I even have a terrific mother-in-law.

I am blessed to have these women in my life. I wondered if there was a common thread to their greatness. When I began to think about it, I realized how different these women all were. They all have very different personalities and temperaments. Some had small families, others large. Some worked outside of the home, others were homemakers. In all of their differences, however, there was one consistent trait: each of these women puts God first in their life. They embody Mark 12:30, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Life is hard. Family life can be very hard. That’s why our priorities need to be in proper order so that no matter what comes our way we can handle it because God is with us. Today I honor the moms in my life. I love you all. Your faithful and genuine relationship with the Lord has and will bless generations.