| Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God hath commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you. (Deuteronomy 5:16) This weekend is Mother's Day. It is a great opportunity to honor and be honored; yet it can also be a hard time for many people. It can be a difficult weekend for me because I miss my Mother. In some ways my Mom spoiled me because we had a very close relationship. We became friends. Don't get me wrong; we had our struggles and disagreements. She was from a very traditional, denominational background, and I am part of a more non-traditional non-denominational congregation. There were things about me and about my preferences that she didn't understand. But I knew she loved me, and she knew I loved her. So in some things we just agreed to allow each other space and preferences. I was her firstborn, and she used to say that I was her practice model. She made mistakes on me and then learned from them not to repeat with my siblings. There were times she wished there really was such a thing as a practice model to make all the mistakes that a parent WILL make, and then throw it away. She got that idea making waffles once. The first waffle usually doesn't turn out very pretty and may get thrown away. Some people have told me I should just be grateful for the time I had with her because many people never have that kind of relationship with their Mom. I am grateful, but because I had it, I miss it. Some people have told me to just remember she is always with me and is still a part of me. But that doesn't seem the same to me as having her here "with skin on." For other people it may be a hard weekend because they don't have a great relationship with their Mother. No matter how "good" or "bad" your Mom is or was she was never perfect. But we aren't told to honor her because she is perfect. We are told to honor her just because she is our Mother. Actually, it does us as much good to honor as it does the one to whom we give the honor. Many times, it actually benefits us more. Honoring our parents has a promise and a blessing attached to it. When we honor, our days may be prolonged and things will go well with us. Still other people may have a hard weekend because this is a weekend that they should be honored, and they may not hear from their family members. My family usually takes me out to eat after church on Mother's Day. One year when we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, my husband noticed a woman sitting by herself. I had 2 long-stemmed roses given to me at church that day. The Mothers at church were each given one and then a woman that is my "spiritual daughter" blessed me by giving me hers. When my husband noticed the woman eating alone, he mentioned the fact that I had been given 2 roses, and she looked lonely. I took the hint and handed him a rose. He walked over to hand it to her and she started to cry. She had 2 children, but she hadn't heard from either of them. She seemed like a nice woman. I don't know what kind of a Mother she was, but she raised 2 children, and for that, she deserved to be honored for Mother's Day. We were strangers, but we were better than nothing. However, her children missed an opportunity to be blessed by honoring her. Who is it that you should give honor? You may have missed opportunities in the past, but isn't this a time when "better late than never" rings true? Begin by praying for your natural mother, but don't forget to pray for those women who have nurtured you and been like Spiritual Mothers to you. Ask God to show you who you need to honor, and how best to honor them. You will be blessed by being obedient. | 
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