5th grade science teacher, test 7 letter wood starting with M, "I pick things up". 70% of students wrote Mother.

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1 Made with Love Title product of auto correct Maid with Love. A father was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us?". 5th grade science teacher, test 7 letter wood starting with M, "I pick things up". 70% of students wrote Mother. The love of a mother for her child... is there a love any deeper? Our daughter-in-law Starla gave birth 2 weeks ago to our second grandchild Carson. I love watching her with him. But moms, I have a question: Why do you love your newborn? I know, it s a silly question. Indulge me. Why do you? For months this baby has brought you pain. He made you gain weight, Wear funny pants and waddle like a duck. You craved weird foods only to throw them up in the morning. He jumped up and down on your bladder so you had to make dozens of trips to the restroom. He occupied space that wasn t his and ate food he didn t fix. He didn t even tell you she was coming. He just came. And what a entry! He made you body do things you never knew it could. You screamed. You swore. You couldn't wait for that all natural experience and then the first real labor came and like Bill Cosby a wife to may have stood up in the stirrups and said, "I want morphine. Your back aches. Your body is drenched in sweat. Every muscle strained and stretched. He s no more out of the womb than he starts to cry! The room is too cold, the blanket is too rough, the nurse is too mean. And who does he want? Mom. This baby has done nothing for you not even a thank-you, yet all you can talk about are his good looks and bright future. He s going to wake you up every night for the next six weeks, but that doesn t matter. I can see it on your face. You re crazy about him. Though this child will bring heartache and disappointment at times, you could never stop loving him, Why? In this portrait of motherhood we get an insight into God s love for each one of us as his children

2 Throughout scripture, are reminders that God s love is like that of a mother: deep, and unstoppable. Without limits of a single gender God lives as perfectly as father and mother. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you Isaiah 66:13 Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands Isaiah 49:15-16 But we were very gentle with you, like a mother caring for her little children I Thess. 2:7 Through Christ we take on this unconditional love. He had always loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them all the way to the end. Jn. 13:1 I would pose the same question to God as the one earlier to moms.. GOD, Why do you love your children? I think about how much pain we ve brought you. Why do you tolerate us? You give us every breath we breathe, but do we thank you? You give us bodie are fearfully and wonderfully made, but do we praise you? Seldom. We complain about the weather. We bicker about our toys. Not a second passes when someone, somewhere doesn t use your name to curse a hammered thumb or a bad call by the umpire. (As if it were your fault.) You fill the world with food, but we blame you for hunger. We pollute the world you loaned us. We mistreat the bodies you gave us. We ignore the Word you sent us. And we killed the Son you gave us. We are spoiled babies who take and kick and pout and blaspheme. You have every reason to abandon us. I sure would! I would wash my hands of the whole mess and start over on Mars. But do you...? NO! I see your love all around when I pause to look. I see your beauty of creation, a gentle breeze, majestic mountain, power of the ocean, flowers that bloom, the snow that - 2 -

3 blankets everything in white stillness. The precision of the ocean tides. Watched You transform a life and lift all the pain. Father, your love never ceases. Never. Though we spurn you, ignore you, disobey you, you will not change. Our evil cannot diminish your love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidity jeopardizes it. You don t love me less if I fail. You don t love me more if I succeed. Your love never ceases. How do we begin to grasp this unconditional love? The answer is found in the eyes of the mother. Why does she love her newborn? Because the baby is hers? Even more. Because the baby is her. Her blood. Her flesh. Her sinew and spine. Her hope. Her legacy. It bothers her not that the baby gives nothing. She knows a newborn is helpless, weak. She knows babies don t ask to come into this world. And God knows we didn t either. We are his idea, His plan. We are his. His face. His eyes. His hands. His touch. Look deeply into the face of every human being on earth and you will see his likeness. Though some appear to be distant relatives, they are not. God has no cousins, only children. Gen. 1, "made in His image". Imago dei. though we may not act like our Father, there is no greater truth than this: We are His and He loves us. Romans 8:38-39 NLT And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from God s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. So we see God created an amazing example of Himself in mothers to show what unconditional love looks like and the lengths that love will go... Recent example of this in Stephanie Decker who saved her 2 children in the recent tornado which struck southern IN town of Henryville. Huddled with her two children in their basement, Stephanie Decker was determined to "take the hit" and shield them from the wrath of the tornado bearing down on their Indiana home Friday. It was a decision that cost her part of both her legs -- but saved her children from harm

4 Decker, 36, who was hurt by a falling steel beam, bricks and other debris as her home was leveled. But she was reluctant to call herself a hero. "I call myself a mom," she said. "I love my kids I wanted to do anything I could to protect them. I think any parent would." Husband Joe Decker didn't hesitate to call his wife a hero. Because of her, "I've got my kids," he said. Finally, it is a lie of the enemy that God doesn't love you. That you've made to many mistakes or could ever be God enough for God to accept you. Even when we Fail God and or moms will live us. Coming Home Brazilian preacher in São Paulo shared this story... The small house consisted of one large room on a dusty street. Its red-tiled roof was one of many in this poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the Brazilian village. Maria and her daughter, Christina, had done what they could to add color to the gray walls and warmth to the hard dirt floor: an old calendar, a faded photograph of a relative, a wooden crucifix. The furnishings were modes: a pallet on either side of the room, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove. Maria s husband had died when Christina was an infant. Written on the back was this compelling invitation. Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn t matter. Please come home. She did. CLOSE Communion God s love. Prov. 31 Message When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive. Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: "Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. Give her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises! A physician wrote to a church-related magazine: Today I visited an eight-year-old girl dying of cancer. Her body was disfigured by her disease and its treatment. She was in almost constant pain. As I entered her room, I was - 4 -

5 overcome immediately by her suffering so unjust, unfair, unreasonable. Even more overpowering was the presence of her grandmother lying in bed beside her with her huge body embracing this precious, inhuman suffering. I stood in awe, for I knew I was on holy ground. the suffering of innocent children is horrifying beyond words. I will never forget the great, gentle arms and body of this grandmother. She never spoke while I was there. She was holding and participating in suffering that she could not relieve, and somehow her silent presence was relieving it. No words could express the magnitude of her love