None of us could put a value on what our mother has taught us or for the nurture that she's provided for us. But Salary.com recently rated her monetary worth based upon the top ten jobs in a stay-a-home-Mom's job description. They valued her contribution to the family to be $134,121.00 annually.

—http://swz.salary.com/momsalarywizard/htmls/mswl_momcenter.html Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Exodus 20:12 (NIV) "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

Twelve social science researches who formed the Mother's Council and Motherhood Project surveyed over 2000 mothers who had children under the age of 18 and discovered that they derive satisfaction from being a mother.

They found that mothers didn't emphasize the stress and strain of motherhood, instead 97% of the women surveyed said they were "'very' or 'somewhat' satisfied" with issues related to be a mother. 93% said "the love they feel for their children is unlike any love they've ever experienced." and 81% consider motherhood as "the most important thing they do."

Even with this personal satisfaction, 48% said they feel appreciated "most or all of the time."

—www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-05-01-Mom-study_x.htm Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Exodus 20:12 (HCSB) "Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."

In her book, "Carolyn 101", Carolyn Kepcher writes, "When it comes to kids and work, know where to draw the line; your kids always come first."

Titus 2:4 (HCSB) "so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and children,"

In her book, "7 Myths of Working Mothers", Suzanne Venker writes, "For one of the goals of the women's movement was to get men more involved in the home and show them the amount of work

involved in raising children. Instead, we joined men in their world, becoming breadwinners instead of MOTHER’S DAY

In her book, Amusing Grace, Rhonda Rhea writes, “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!…Oh let’s get real. The only place we’ll find Super Mom is in the comics-unless, of course, we’re talking about that incredible Proverbs 31 super hero, Virtue Woman. That virtuous woman has long been a wonderful inspiration, a super motivation, and a great frustration for those of us who feel we can’t measure up. While the Lord has used her to send me in the right direction more than once, I have to confess to never having actually arrived at the destination. The destination, as you might guess, has been to become Mrs. Proverbs Perfect-Martha Stewart, Mother Teresa, June Cleaver, and Wonder Woman all rolled into one strong, industrious, benevolent lump of creativity.

If you see an “S” on my shirt, it’s most likely a stain and probably means I’m having another bad laundry day. But if I were labeled a heroine, the “S” would have to stand for something more like “Survival Woman”! The basic goal for Survival Woman is to keep my five children in relatively clean underwear (in case they’re in an accident), make sure they don’t run with any sharp objects, and raise those children without misplacing any of them.

What the Lord has for your ministry may not be exactly the same as the Proverbs 31 Woman (you can now breathe a great sigh of relief). You don’t have to do everything she does to be successful (another sigh). True virtue is becoming a woman who loves, serves, and honors the Lord.

If you honor your God and love your children, then you are Super Mom. And Super Mom still keeps her finger in Proverbs 31. Save the superhero syndrome for the comics.”

Proverbs 31:28-31, NKJV “Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.’ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.”

For more information on Amusing Grace, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0781435323/fm082-20

mothers, thereby leading even fewer people to appreciate the work that goes into motherhood. In the end, then, all we've done is push both parents out of the home. I would hardly call this progress."

Proverbs 31:27 (HCSB) "She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle."

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.

In 1872, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Julia Howe suggested the idea of a special day set aside to honor Mothers and celebrate peace, but the idea never took root. Never that is, until the early 20th century.

A couple of years after her mother's death, Anna Jarvis held a ceremony to honor her late mother. The experience so moved her, that she began a campaign to establish a formal holiday to recognize mothers. West Virginia adopted the idea in 1910, other states followed their lead the next year and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May "Mother's Day," a national holiday to honor mothers.

Something Jarvis could be proud of? Not exactly. A few years later, she was arrested for disturbing the peace at a Mother's Day rally. Jarvis deplored the commercialization of the holiday and the way people used it to make profits. In 1923, she filed a law suit to stop a festival where the organizers were selling white carnations as a fund raiser on Mother's Day.

She didn't lead a campaign to begin this holiday so card companies and florists could make money, she wanted it to be a day that stirred sentiment in the children of the world. She was more successful in starting the day than stopping it. Regardless of some people's motives, the idea of honoring mothers was contagious.

Today, we thank the Lord for our Mothers and the care they give us. It is the right thing to do.

—http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/special/holidays/97/mom/history.html Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Exodus 20:12 NIV "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?"

There is a sense in which the ultimate job of parenting is giving our children choices. The hospitals along the Mexico-USA border in San Diego deliver hundreds of babies to Mexican Nationals every year. Dr. Jorge Arce, an OB who practices in Chula Vista delivers about 100 of them every year. He said, “They drop in to the emergency room, they deliver and they leave.” When they leave they take two precious things with them—their newborn child and an American birth certificate. According to Dr. Arce, most of these families he helps, as you might imagine, don’t take any kind of financial responsibility for the delivery of their child. Why do they travel across the border when they are in labor? That’s self-evident, isn’t it? They want to provide a better life for their child—they want to give them choices.

But not all the Mexican Nationals who have babies delivered across the boarder are poor. Many of them take full financial responsibility for their medical bills, but still choose to come across the boarder to deliver—people like Dr. Gabriela Nicolas. Her first contractions came on while she was watching a movie. Nicolas, a psychologist, could have easily gone to her local hospital in Tijuana, Mexico to have the child, but chose instead to drive to a Suburban hospital in the US, where she gave birth within 12 hours. Why would she do it? One reason could be the quality of the care. Lauren Mack, from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services said, “Those who have the ability to pay utilize the medical care in the United States because it’s high quality compared to what’s available to them in Mexico.” Is that the reason Dr. Nicolas gave birth in the U.S.? No, she said, “I wanted him to have more choices.” She has no desire to move to the U.S., but she wants her child to have that choice. But mothers want more than choices for their children; they also want them to make good choices.

Proverbs 10:1 “A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.”

—http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/5782806.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

One of the greatest trusts in the world is the gift of Children. God entrusts mothers and Fathers both with innocent human life. It is more than tragic when we fail to keep that trust.

Megan Huntsman faces six counts of murder after admitting to strangling or suffocating at least that many of her own babies. Authorities found the bodies of seven infants inside plastic bags and stored in boxes in the garage of her former home. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Time, April 28, 2014. P. 18

Psalm 127:3 (HCSB) (3) Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, children, a reward.

Sharon Standifird served her country in the Gulf War, climbed mountains, and took care of her family, yet she found she didn’t get the respect she deserved from her children. When she would try to call them on their cell phones, her children choose to “Ignore” her calls. Rather than getting mad, Standifird decided to create a cell phone app. Her principle was simple, when her kid’s don’t pick up their mother’s phone call, the app locks their phone. The app known as “Ignore No More,” is now available for any Android phone and is starting to catch on around the country. Standifird says the app works for her because her kids are a lot more alert to her calls. Her son, Bradley has become an unofficial spokesman. He told reporters, “I thought it was a good idea. But for other people, not me.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

--Mom creates app so kids can't ignore her calls, By Chris Matyszczyk, http://www.cnet.com/news/mom-creates-app-so-that-kids-cant-ignore-her-calls, Accessed August 17, 2014.

Ephesians 6:1 (NASB) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Every year Americans take time to honor mothers with nice meals, cards, and phones calls home. While they are honoring their mothers, few people realize how much they really owe their moms. Though not all the figures are exact, the total is surprisingly large, especially for the millennial generation. The average cost of housing for 18 years is roughly $45,000. Food for the same period adds another $43,000 to the total. Then add the cost of labor for all the things moms do, wages lost because mother’s often sacrifice careers for their children, and then add on loans and other varied expenses. When the total cost is calculated, Time Magazine estimates most children would easily owe their mothers close to 1.68 million dollars, assuming no interest was included. The writers did say that if mothers agreed not to include the cost of labor, the total bill would only be around $123,000. –Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Here’s a Bill for What You Owe Your Mom by Ethan Wolff-Man, http://time.com/money/4316472/heres-a-bill-for-what-you-owe-your-mom/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter, Accessed May 4, 2016.

Proverbs 23:25 (HCSB)“Let your father and mother have joy, and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.”

For their Mother’s day edition, Time magazine asked influential moms to write open letters to their children. Laila Ali, the daughter of Muhammed Ali, wrote the following to her two children, Sydney and Curtis.

“I love you when you win, I love you when you lose. I love you no matter what, because you can’t make mommy stop loving you.”

This is a great expression of a mother’s love. –Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Isaiah 49:5 (HCSB) “And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him so that Israel might be gathered to Him; for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength—“

Mothers are an important part of our lives. So much so that if we don’t have one we may need to rent one. For $40 per hour, Nina Keneally, of Brooklyn will cook meals, go shopping, or offer guilt-free motherly advice to people, usually millennial hipsters, who gladly pay for the service. “Everybody needs a mom now and then,” Keneally said, “but maybe not his or her own mom.”

A mother’s love is precious. It is from that love she dispenses the services provided by the Rent-a-mom. It is time we were properly grateful for mom. –--Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Proverbs 6:20–21 (HCSB) “My son, keep your father’s command, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching. ²¹ Always bind them to your heart; tie them around your neck.”

Buster Douglass competed with Mike Tyson, AKA “Iron Mike” the heavy weight champion of the world for the title. The champ not only defeated those put in from of him but annihilated them. As the time came for Douglass to enter the ring, the experts did not give him a chance.

In the eighth round, Mike Tyson knocked out Douglass, but Douglass got back up and kept fighting. In the tenth round, Douglass lands an uppercut that sends the champ to the ground. Tyson never recovers and Douglass becomes the new Heavyweight Champion of the world.

Commenting on the win, Douglass said, “Listen to me. It’s really simple, before my mother died she told the whole world that I was gonna beat Mike Tyson and 2 days before the fight my mother died.”

Douglass was inspired and encouraged by his Mom. He was fighting for something more meaningful than a championship belt. He was fighting for Mom because Mom first fought for him. —Jim L. Wilson and Charlie Moulton

Matthew 15:4–6 (HCSB)“For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”— ⁶ he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have revoked God’s word because of your tradition.”

Harry and William, the two English Princes, talked to a British TV network on the 20^th anniversary of their mother’s death. They told about the last time they talked to Princess Diana the afternoon before her death in an automobile accident. Fifteen and 12 at the time, they said they were playing outside with cousins when she called them. “I think Harry and I were in a desperate rush to say ‘Goodbye,’ ‘see you later’, and ‘We’re going to go off,’” recalls William. Harry added, “If I’d known that was the last time I’d speak to my mother, the things I would have said to her. I have to deal with that for the rest of my life.”

This ought to be a lesson to us. Treat every conversation with the care and affection we would use if it were the last time we would speak to someone we love. What do you need to say to your mother today? —Jim L. Wilson & Rodger Russell

Ephesians 4:29 (CSB) “No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.”

The war on drugs has had some adverse consequences. One of those is the increasing number of women in state prisons. That number has increased by more than 800 percent over the past four decades. Today more than 250,000 children in the United States have a mother in jail.

Children growing up in a home without either parent are at risk of failing. A strong family shouldn’t be a rarity, but we work to build good homes where a child has a mother and a father to provide for their physical needs, but also their emotional and spiritual needs. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Proverbs 14:1 (CSB) “Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.”

Mother’s Day in Mexico has traditionally been one of the country’s most festive days. The devastating violence among drug gangs has filtrated into schools and neighborhoods. Currently Mother’s Day has become a somber affair. Perhaps the saddest display is an annual silent march down Mexico City’s elegant Reforma boulevard by mothers holding posters of their missing children.

I know where my children are and that they are reasonably safe. I cannot imagine the tragedy of losing a child to any kind of death. Large neighborhoods of children are missing and many presumed dead in Mexico. May God have mercy on these mothers on Mother’s Day and beyond. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Matthew 18:6 (CSB)“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.”

A school in South Korea, facing plummeting enrollment because of the country’s low birthrate, has begun to allow older adults who are illiterate to study alongside elementary students. Hwang Wol-geum, a 70-year-old Korean grandmother has been learning to read and write in school with her grandchildren. The most rewarding part of that education, according to Ms. Hwang, is the ability to write letters to her children. –Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Psalm 127:3 (CSB) Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward.

An Ohio woman said she received a letter from her mother which was mailed in 2015, arriving two years after her mother died. Katrina Jones said she checked her mail during a lunch break when she saw the letter and recognized her mother’s handwriting. The envelope was postmarked in June 2015 and contained a birthday card. Jones said it was bittersweet because she remembered her mother asking if she had received a card several years earlier. She had no idea why it took so long to arrive and she considers it a sign because it came after her mother had died. —Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity.

A wallet found inside the walls of cottage undergoing renovation in Georgia was returned to the family of the owner. Mary Kay Andrews, an author who owns the house now, said crews found the wallet inside a wall, and it appeared the wallet had been there for decades. Documents inside the billfold identified the owner as Melba Lanier, who lived in the house with her husband Jack in 1954. Andrews said she contacted the couple’s children and gave them the wallet. They told her they plan to keep it as a family heirloom. Lanier’s daughter Sheryl said, “It means so much and I’m definitely going to save it and put it in like a shadow box and remember it forever and then pass it down to my daughter and let her pass it down.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.