Bible honors mothers

The Rev. Paul Gray, pastor, Heartland Community Church, 619 Vt.:

From cover to cover, the Bible honors motherhood, among the most important professions a woman ever can have.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote a great job description for mothers (Proverbs 22:6): “Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.”

My mother certainly taught me the right path. Unfortunately, as a young adult, I thought I knew better and made some bad choices. After a season of “sowing my wild oats,” I had a crop failure and came to my senses. A major reason for my eventual life change was the training my mother (and father) gave me when I was growing up.

I’m so grateful that my wife, Kitsy, spent a major portion of her life training our three kids in God’s way so that when they left home, they could make lifestyle choices based on the truth. Today they are wonderful young adults because of the effort she made to teach them at home via devotions, prayer, reading, “teachable moments” and just doing life with them.

In the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12), the Lord says: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Everyone wins when both parents raise godly children and the kids honor their parents by “remaining on the right path.”

– Send e-mail to Paul Gray at paul@hcclawrence.com.

Moms deserve joy

The Rev. Nancy Thellman, interim associate pastor, Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt.:

I don’t know all that Scripture says on the topic of mothers, but I do know the first thing it says: “I’ll multiply your pains in childbirth; you’ll give birth to your babies in pain” (Genesis 3:16). Not exactly Mother’s Day material because, thousands of years later, the words still sting.

The Journal-World printed this on Tuesday: “In most of the developing world, childbirth is a dance with death for both mother and baby, even though 70 percent of those deaths could be prevented.” These women die for lack of funds, which provide prenatal care, trained attendants and medicine.

We know for a fact that in developing nations, half a million women lose their lives in childbirth every year – and these are only the documented deaths. Such tragedy would not be tolerated were our own mothers and daughters at stake.

But there’s hope. One hundred eighty-nine countries signed onto the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The fifth goal is to cut global maternal deaths by three-quarters by the year 2015. This is a reachable goal if all the signatories keep their promise to fund the program at $6 billion a year (not that much, really, when you think that our own nation currently spends $10 billion a month on war).

So on the eve of this Mother’s Day, I’m grateful for those who work toward this noble millennial goal. For the sake of all mothers around the world, may these words become true: “(God) picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who’s been thrown out with the trash, seats them among the honored guests … (God) gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!” (Psalm 113).

– Send e-mail to Nancy Thellman at nancythellman@sunflower.com.