Father's House Blog

A mother and father were watching TV when the mother said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed."

 She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches, rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.  She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the wash, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button.  She picked up the game pieces left on the table and put the telephone book back into the drawer.

 She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.  She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom.  She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a textbook out from hiding under the chair She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.

 She then creamed her face, put on moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and trimmed her nails.  The husband called, "I thought you were going to bed."

 "I'm on my way," she said.  She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out a bedside lamp, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks in the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework. In her own room, she set the alarm, laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her list of things to do for tomorrow.

 About that time, the husband turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular, "I'm going to bed."

 And he did.

 I think that story is really funny! But I also find it disturbing... because the truth is, mums are normally the ones who more than anyone else in a family put others first and go the extra mile. As Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said, "By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class."

 This Sunday is Mothering Sunday in the UK.

 Find a special way to honour your Mum. Mothers make huge sacrifices, demonstrating self-sacrificial love from the moment they start carrying us inside them before we were born. No mother is of course perfect, and many people carry wounds from their mothers. But the Bible is quite clear. "Honour your father and mother" - which is the first commandment with a promise - "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."  (Ephesians 6.2-3).

Maybe it's time to give the gift of honour to your mother.