The Heart of a Mother: Scenes from Scripture HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!! ◆ Sheila Kissinger, a social anthropologist, writes in her book Ourselves as Mothers: “Becoming a mother is a biological process, but it is also a social transformation, and one of the most dramatic and far-reaching that a woman may experience. The home is supposed to be a haven of love and good feelings. Thus it comes as a great disappointment to many women that it proves not to be so for them; for it is also a place where the ugliest and most destructive emotions are experienced, where there is disturbing interpersonal conflict and inside four walls these raw feelings are concentrated and mixed together as if in a pressure cooker. She hates what she has become. Happy as a woman may be to have a baby, and although she may enjoy being a mother, she must now pay the price of motherhood—the total and virtual annihilation of self.” Most women probably have thoughts and emotions that rumble in them. They look to the so-called, “ideal” and say, not me. Yet most every mother identified in Scripture has her flaws, and in spite of them, and with God’s power and love, she provides comfort and guidance to her children that has Godly influence on them.

Heart of a Mother: Scenes From Scripture Rebekeh: Seeking Samson’s Mother: Obedient Elizabeth: Faithful

Rebekah: Seeking Genesis 25:21-24 (NCV) 21 Isaac’s wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. The LORD heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant. 22 While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, “Why is this happening to me?“ Then she went to get an answer from the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your body, and two groups of people will be taken from you. One group will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.“ 24 When the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. (Esau and Jacob)

Rebekeh: Seeking Isaiah 55:6 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Samson’s Mother: Obedience Judges 13:1-25 (NIV) – Samson’s Mother 3 The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, 5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."

Samson’s Mother: Obedience 2 John 1:6 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. MOTHER'S DAY Every time Paul Lo Duca starts a game as catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he scribbles his mother's initials in the dirt behind home plate. Like most children would be, Lo Duca is sentimental about his mother who passed away from cancer in 1996. But there is more to the ritual than that. Lo Duca is grateful for what his mom did to help him make it to the "show.“ When he was a youngster, he took batting practice from his mother in their backyard. They didn't use a ball and a bat, instead, she threw pinto beans toward him and he would hit them with a broom stick. Hitting such a small object with such a narrow stick improved his hand-eye coordination and made him a better hitter. "She did so much for me," Lo Duca said, "and she was such a big influence on my life." Lo Duca has an attitude a gratitude-which is one of the finest gifts a child can give a mother. —Dodgers Magazine, Volume 14, Number 2, p. 33, Fresh Illustrations.

Elizabeth: Faithful Luke 1:5-7;11-25 (NIV) Elizabeth 5In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

Elizabeth: Faithful Psalm 37:28 28 For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Heart of a Mother Isaiah 66:13 13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."