Happy Mother's Day

Proverbs 22:6 (New King James Version)

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.






In honor of Mother’s Day I want to share one of my favorite columns by Erma Bombeck. She tells a story of God in the act of creating mothers. She says that on the day God created mothers He had already worked long overtime. And an angel said to Him, "Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one."


The Lord turned & said, "Have you read the specs on this model? She is supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic. She is to have 180 moving parts, all of them replaceable. She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. She is to have a lap that will disappear whenever she stands up. She is to be able to function on black coffee & leftovers. And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands."


"Six pairs of hands," said the angel, "that’s impossible." "It’s not the six pairs of hands that bother me." said the Lord, "It’s the three pairs of eyes. She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’ she already knows what they’re doing in there."


"She has another pair in the back of her head to see all the things she is not supposed to see but must see. And then she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that just goofed & communicate love & understanding without saying a word."


"That’s too much." said the angel, "You can’t put that much in one model. Why don’t you rest for a while & resume your creating tomorrow?"


"No, I can’t," said the Lord. "I’m close to creating someone very much like myself. I’ve already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick - who can feed a family of six with one pound of hamburger - & who can persuade a nine year old to take a shower."


Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely & said, "She’s too soft." "Oh, but she is tough," said the Lord. "You’d be surprised at how much this mother can do."


"Can she think?" asked the angel. "Not only can she think," said the Lord, "but she can reason & compromise & persuade."


Then the angel reached over & touched her cheek. "This one has a leak," he said. "I told you that you couldn’t put that much in one model." "That’s not a leak," said the Lord. "That’s a tear."


"What’s a tear for?" asked the angel. "Well it’s for joy, for sadness, for sorrow, for disappointment, for pride." "You’re a genius," said the angel. And the Lord said, "Oh, but I didn’t put it there."






Dear Lord we thank You for our mothers. On this special day we ask for protection for each one of them. Hold them in Your strong arms and be with them as the mold and guide each one of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Do You live a Life of Humor?

Job 8:21 (New International Version)



He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.






She was a homemaker who became a nationally known author, speaker, and syndicated columnist. Among her bestsellers were The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank and When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home. Some of her humor could make even cynics laugh hysterically.






A woman who could write that way must have had an easy life, huh? All she had to do was think up jokes, write them down, and collect her royalties, right? Wrong. Bad wrong!






Erma Bombeck's father died when she was only nine years old. At 20 she was found to have a hereditary kidney disorder that would eventually lead to kidney failure. (Two of her three children have inherited the problem.) In 1991 she had breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. In 1993 she started four-times-a-day peritoneal dialysis until a kidney transplant April 4. Complications from the transplant took her life last Monday.


When fans wrote to say, "Things like this shouldn't happen to you," she had an answer. "Why not me?" she said. "I had a good long ride with it. I have written all these books with kidney problems. … It doesn't affect your brain. It doesn't affect your sense of humor."


I suspect her sense of humor was a coping device. It helped her deal with her pain. It kept her from getting brittle and grumpy. It helped her live 69 years in a positive rather than negative way, with joy rather than self-pity.


People who succeed with life tend to have a great sense of humor. It gets them through the tough times. Remember when Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981? "Honey, I forgot to duck," he told Nancy at the hospital. To the surgeons about to operate on him, he said, "Please tell me you're Republicans."


A sense of humor is great therapy when you hit a bump in the road -- and everybody's road has some bumps. As Erma Bombeck put it, "There is something about getting on with your life." She might have added -- with a smile whenever you can manage it.






Dear Lord we pray that we would have a sense of humor so that we don’t take things to serious. We pray that with that joy others will see you in us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.