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This is long and for that I apologize, so if you are not into long post, then I would click out now.

October of 2005 I lost my mother, so last year was our first Mothers Day without her. I wanted the message to be special that day and to be a tribute to Mothers. Here it is.


She knew that she was a pure young lady – she knew that she had never been with a man – she knew that she was in love with Joseph – she knew that she and he were going to be married in the near future. Can you imagine what went through her mind as she suddenly realized that something was wrong with her body and that she was expecting a child? Then to make matters even more difficult, can you imagine the thoughts that went through her mind concerning this child – a Child from God – A Child of the Holy Ghost? Who would believe a story like that one? People have come up with some real excuses for the mistakes that they have made in life, but who would believe that this child is “of the Holy Ghost?” I don’t know about you, but I can hear the talk around the well and other gathering places of the women and ladies of that day. I can hear them saying things like, “does she think we are going to fall for that?” “Why not just admit your mistake and go on?” Oh the talk that must have happened concerning that “GOOD” little maiden Mary.

Mary the mother of Jesus – the one that God chose when He determined that He would robe Himself in flesh and come and live among men and women. What an honor to be that one who would be called the mother of the Messiah. Oh was it really an honor? Sure in hindsight for us today we would consider it an honor, but what about Mary – how do you think she felt when she was all alone? What are people going to say, what are people going to think and will I ever be able to show my face in public again?

See it took courage to be the Mother of Jesus.

Mary had courage.

A real mother is one that has tremendous courage. A true mother will have to face things that an ordinary person will never have to face.

It took courage to be the Mother of Jesus and for all of our mothers here today, I want you to know that I salute your courage. This is a trait of a real mother.

Mothers, again I salute you today, for it takes courage to stand up for what is right no matter what others may say or do.

• It takes courage to raise children in a home where Jesus is first.
• It takes courage to correct them when that little part of your heart does not want to because you know that it is going to hurt
• It takes courage to make your children stick to what is right when it would be so easy to give into them and let them have their way
• It takes courage to keep them as good children and not let them get away with throwing temper tantrums and telling you no, oh they may do it, but because you are their mother and you have courage, you will not allow them to get by with it.
• It takes courage to realize that rebellion at a young age is not cute and funny, but rather a small sign of a great problem to come.

Yes, on this Mother’s Day 2006 I salute you the mothers who are not afraid to take the bull by the horns and teach our children, yes you are a mother and yes you have the trait that we see when we read about the Mother of Jesus. You have courage.

Thank you Mary for teaching us about courage.
She is mentioned very quickly in passing, it seems that she was just a small part, even insignificant to some; a very small part of the story of Ruth, her name was Orpha. She and Ruth married brothers. There came a day when both Ruth and Orphan’s husbands died.

Orpha – not a lot mentioned about her, but the one thing that we do know about her is that she returned to her homeland – she returned to her roots.

A Real Mother is one who always knows where her roots are. She is an established person.

Life has a way of taking you places that you never thought you would go – you have feelings that you never thought you would have to have – but that is just the way of life.

Today on this Mother’s Day 2006, to all of the real Mothers in this building today – I salute you because you have the ability to handle more than your share of the “stuff” that is thrown at us in this day and hour we are living in, but you never loose sight of your roots.

Sure some have shown disdain to Orpha for returning – she should have been Ruth and challenged the unknown. Could it be that Ruth teaches us one thing, but Orpha teaches us another?

Orpha teaches us about the importance of knowing where our roots are.

Because of this quality that comes in a Mother, you are looking at one person who will never be shaken from the truth of the Word of God.

See, I have a mother who taught me where the roots – the foundation – is located. Life may come in a lot of different shapes and forms, but there are some things that just remain.

• Faith in God
• Repentance
• Baptism in Jesus Name
• The infilling of the power of the Holy Ghost
• Separating to live a clean life before God
• The FACT that God can do anything that we need
• Love

These are some roots that were instilled to me by my mother – because she knew, she made sure that her children knew.

Thank you Orpha for teaching us the trait of being rooted – a real mother is one who has a firm foundation and is rooted in truth.

Mary taught us Courage.
Orpha taught us the importance of being rooted.

Her daughter was vexed with a devil and needed the touch of the Lord on her life. This mother came slamming into the pages of our Bible with a spirit of determination and faith that was almost unmatched by others that we read about.

It was the time for their to be a visitation of the power of God on people outside of the nation of Israel – all others including this Mother were considered dogs – even by Jesus.

Yet there was a need and here was an answer and after all she WAS A Mother – so it didn’t really matter what others thought about her, it didn’t really matter how she was shown disdain and the pain that came to her – she had a daughter and that daughter had a need and she was a Mother and here was an answer, a supplier, to her need – that was what mattered. So with a spirit of determination this mother went after the answer.

She was so unimportant it seemed that her name was not given – she is simply referred to as The Woman of Canaan.

This woman was a mother – she teaches us still another trait of a real mother. The Woman of Canaan was determined.

I give honor to you Mothers for your determined spirit. When you set your mind to something, it gets done. It has been said that the North American church was built on the prayer and dedication and may I add determination of the women – the mothers of our hour.

I salute you real mothers for your determination in;

• Teaching truth to your children
• Teaching them that Yes Sir and No Sir is still right
• Teaching them right from wrong
• Keeping up with them, knowing where they have been and who they have been with.
• Never backing down when the powers of hell come against you and attack you.

Determination – standing against the odds and seeing the job to the finish.

The Woman of Canaan is all we know her by, but because of her worship and determination she caused the God of the ages to break protocol and step across the line between the Israelites and the dogs and she got her answer.

The Woman of Canaan = Determination.
She is barren – she has no children. More than anything else she wants a Child to raise and teach the truth of life.

She is provoked on a regular if not daily basis, by her husbands other wife – she is made to feel so useless because she has no child.

So we find this soon to be mother at an altar and the priest thinks that she is drunk because her heart is so vexed and heavy that she cannot even speak – her mouth is open, but no word are coming out.

But that prayer, the prayer of Hannah teaches us about honesty and integrity. Hannah prayed to God that if He would open her womb and just give her one child that she would give him back to God for all his days.

God honored that prayer and Hannah honored her vow to God.

Hannah teaches us that a real mother is one that will keep her word – she is a person of honesty and integrity.

After the child was born Hannah could have gone back on her word – she could have decided that after all this is just one child and I need that child to love and cherish – how lonely was Hannah as she left that little boy at the temple with an old man to take care of him? Still she kept her word.

Every year she would visit and see him, and every year she would leave with a heavy heart, but still she kept her word.

On this Mother’s Day 2006 I want to say Thank You to all of the Real Mothers who have placed in the heart of their children the desire and spirit of honesty and integrity.

We live in a day and hour where this trait is getting so hard to find – people will do or say anything to get their desired result. It really doesn’t matter who they have to step on and who gets hurt – as long as the result is for their benefit.

A trait of a Godly and Real Mother is one where honesty is in the picture. If you give them your word, then it has to stand.

Because of Hannah’s vow a prophet was given to Israel that would anoint Kings and fearlessly carry out the work of the Lord.

Because of Hannah’s integrity – God opened up her womb and gave her children to raise and keep with her.

Hannah teaches us honesty.