One old song uses the acrostic MOTHER to spell out how the author felt about his own mother. 

Using the same method may shed some light on motherhood in general. 

Mature

Other-centered

Thoughtful

Hard-working

Embracive 

Redemptive

All-in-all, our mothers have accepted their God-given role as the first one to teach us about life and how to live it. They have made no attempt to be our chum nor our best buddy. They have exemplified maturity laced with much love and laughter. We wound up with the choicest piece of the old red rooster while they seemed content to take the lesser cut.  No question was too simple nor could mom be stumped in those early days of "why". If she didn't know the answer she made a learning moment out of it for the one with the question as well as for her own inquiring mind. Oddly, mother was the first one up and the last to bed at night.  Most of us grew up thinking, "Moms don't require much rest, do they?" Only later did we accept her as the definition of stamina. And how refreshing it was to bring a friend home from school and discover mom's loving embrace invariably expanded to include whomever that might be. No matter the strata of society to which they belonged, when they were at our home, they were included.

One of the really important lessons we learned from mother was that everyone was worth the investment of time necessary to effect positive change in their life.  As a school bus driver, mother assigned the toughest kid with the worst reputation to help her back the long yellow monster as she turned it around at the end of the route. No doubt she could have done it without his "assistance". But she was looking for some means to raise his dismal opinion of himself. Too long he had been told how worthless he was. He just needed a calm gentle voice to say, " I couldn't have done it without you! Good job!"

Oh that we all might be wise enough to emulate the finest and best character traits we saw in our mothers! They showed us how it is done. Now let's get busy and carry the torch. 

It's our turn...

Lovingly,

Pastor Richard Orrell