To our mothers / ones who raised us,
Thank you. Thank you for doing so much. Thank you for making sacrifices in your life to raise us. Thank you for not giving up even when we hurt you. Thank you for teaching us the important things in life – like eating with our mouths closed, how to clean up after ourselves and how to say please and thank you. Thank you for teaching us to share, to apologise and to consider how others are feeling. Thank you for teaching us how to drive, how to handle money and how to look after our ourselves. Thank you for teaching us to value our education and opportunities, to take responsibility and to finish what we start. We love you.

To our grandmothers,
Thank you for making life beautiful and fun. Thank you for spoiling us and teaching us not to take ourselves too seriously. Thank you for teaching us to be patient, humble and gracious. Thank you for sharing your wisdom in each of life’s stages. Thank you for making time to chat and being willing to hear us out. Thank you for not judging us when our lives have turned out differently to how we expected. Thank you for letting us work things out and make our own mistakes. Thank you for telling us what we needed to hear – even though we didn’t appreciate it at the time! We love you.

To our ‘adopted’ mothers,
Thank you for receiving us as we were and adopting us into your family like one of your own. Thank you for loving us when we felt vulnerable. Thank you for backing us when we when we were scared. Thank you for encouraging us when we were filled with fear and self-doubt. Thank you for supporting us by thinking of us, writing to us and making time for us. Thank you for your wise words and timely advice. Thank you for being open with us about your own fears and inadequacies. Thank you for showing us that it’s ok not to have it all sorted – even though it looks like you do! We love you.

To our ‘spiritual’ mothers,
Thank you for constantly pointing us back to Christ and teaching us how to follow him. Thank you for treasuring His Word and showing us how to delight in Him. Thank you for sharing not only the gospel, but your whole way of life too. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for teaching us to wait patiently on the Lord and trust that He is good and knows what He’s doing. Thank you for caring more about our character and godliness more than we did. Thank you for rebuking us when we were inappropriate. Thank you for being willing to apologise when you were wrong and modelling repentance and forgiveness to us. Thank you for reassuring us that the Lord’s ways are higher than ours and that He he has never left us. We love you.

A prayer for Mother’s Day:
Our Father we thank you for the ‘mums’ that you have blessed us with. We thank you for their example in the faith, their tender love and nurturing care toward us. We pray for them and ask that you would sustain them in their walk, protect them from evil and bless their efforts. We acknowledge that some may have caused us significant pain, and so we ask for special grace, opportunities to forgive, and discernment in how to live. We pray for our mothers who do not know you, asking that you would work in their hearts to bring true repentance and lasting faith. We ask that those who long to be mothers would know your grace and comfort too. May you fill the women of our church with the capacity, wisdom and character to act as ‘spiritual’ mothers in our family at St Thomas’ as each is able. We thank you and bless you for them, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In Christ,
Luke Shooter