Strength and honor are her clothing,
and she can laugh at the days to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband praises her as well:
“Many daughters have done noble things,
but you surpass them all!”

Proverbs 31:25-29

Fun Fact: American Mother’s Day began in my home state, West Virginia. In the little town of Grafton to be exact, a town, like many in WV, that is quaint and quiet and tucked away from major interstates, not exactly off the beaten path, but not definitely not far from it.

I’ve passed through the birthplace of Mother’s Day many times in my travels as a ball player and coach as well as a state education leader and every time I take a moment to be amazed at how a national holiday could start in such a seemingly ordinary place.

But sweet friends, isn’t that how God so often works?

Making something extraordinary from the seemingly ordinary?

I am reminded of the first mother, Eve, named so by her husband, Adam, who said she was “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). The interesting thing is, that Adam named her before she ever bore her first child. He knew she would be the mother all living because God had shaped her so.

I am reminded also of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. God told Abraham that he would have as many descendants as there are stars when he had no children at all (Genesis 15:5). Later in Genesis 18 we read that the Lord passed by Abraham’s tent and told him that the next year Sarah would have a baby, that she would be a mother. Before she ever gave birth, the Lord identified her as the mother of a nation because He had shaped her so.

Sweet Sisters, there’s no denying it, God has shaped us for motherhood. And Sisters, it’s important to remember that – while Eve and Sarah certainly experienced physical childbirth – motherhood does not require birthing a child.

Ruth was not Naomi’s child and yet they had a mother-daughter bond stronger even than the death of Naomi’s biological child, Ruth’s deceased husband (Book of Ruth).

Pharoah’s daughter found baby Moses in the rushes and drew him out of the water, took him as her own, and raised him (Exodus 2). Not only was he not her biological son, he was from a race of people enslaved to her people.

Women are called to motherhood, to nurture, to comfort, to teach, to protect whatever children or young people God gives them. The Proverbs 31 woman gives us a good example of this as she takes care of not only her family but also those who work for her.

And so this day Brothers and Sisters, let us take a pause to celebrate our birth mothers, and our mothers-in-law, our adopted mothers and foster mothers and surrogate mothers, our aunties and big sisters and cousins, and teachers and church elders, and all of those women who have come alongside when we needed teaching or comfort or protection or prayer.

Lord, we thank you for all of the women who answer Your call to motherhood! Whether You have granted them biological children or children taken-under-wing, You have blessed us mightily with their care and wisdom.