A number of years ago I asked a mom what it was going to be like to have all of her children either married or off at college. She gave me a short throw away answer that she gives to everyone who asks. But then she said something I will never forget: “Phil, once you’re a mom, you’re never not a mom. You will always be concerned about your kids.”

    I knew she was right. Children, no matter their age, are still a work in progress. Their transformation is not complete till they go home to God. Even when they leave home, get married, or go to college, love insures that a mom will do everything she can to help them achieve and receive all that God wants for them. When they have children of their own, a mom wants what’s best for them with their children just as much as she wanted what was best for them when they were her little children.

    Being a mom is soul craft—moms are partners with God in crafting a child into an adult that is trained and ready to serve him. Only God knows where it’s all headed. Moms have to wonder. Mary, Jesus’ mother, had more input into the identity of her child than most moms do, but she found herself wondering and treasuring up the memories in her heart. If it was true with her, it is no less true for moms today. Wondering and treasuring are two of the biggest pastimes of moms.

    At the same time, moms must remember they are partners with God. They are not alone in their work of soul craft. God is at work in them, through them, and with them to form and fashion another human being. God created that child in the womb of a mother. God nurtured the early life and understanding of the child through the voice, touch, and time of a mother. Then God recreated them when they became a Christian because of the influence of a mother. God is still at work transforming them to become more like Jesus Christ because of the ongoing prayers of a mother.

    So bewildering, challenging, and tiring as a mother’s work may be, it is a holy calling and a divine partnership. It is soul craft! What could be more important or more significant?

    So as we take time to go through our yearly Mother’s Day ritual, let’s add to it a sense of the divine and holy. The gift of a godly mom a treasure to be appreciated. The work of motherhood is an effort to be admired. More than a yearly responsibility to honor, a godly mom is a gift from heaven to be loved always.

    Thanks Mom!