The Value of a Mother

In the United States, Mother's Day is an annual holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May. The holiday was declared officially by the state of West Virginia in 1910, and the rest of states followed quickly. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation.

On May 9, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. Mother's Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well the positive contributions that they make to society. (Wikipedia.org)

With the exception of Adam and Eve, every human has a mother. Mothers and motherhood are very prominent throughout the Bible, literally and symbolically, in both Bible History and Prophecy.

Here are some famous Mothers of the Bible:

Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
Eve, the mother of Cain and Abel.
Hannah, the mother of Samuel.
Leah, the mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah.
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
Rebekah, the mother of Jacob/Israel and Esau.
Sarah, the mother of Isaac.
Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon.
Hagar, the mother of Ishmael.

We all know how valuable a mother is in our lives. Some have even tried to put a price tag on a mother’s value. A mother does not expect anything in return for her work. She receives no pay; works long hours; rarely has a day off or holiday; and receives few accolades.

Day in and day out, she tirelessly performs her duties, mostly behind the scenes, to keep her family running smoothly; rarely missing a beat. Without mothers this world would be vastly different, and not necessarily in a positive way.

In comparison with other professions or jobs, a mother’s work is probably the most challenging. On the one hand, you could say that she's "priceless." On the other? "$61,436 a year." That's according to Amy Danise, senior managing editor of Insure.com, a website that supplies insurance information.

Danise and her colleagues divided up mom's function into 14 different jobs (cook, driver, nurse, etc.), then used U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on hourly wages to see how much you'd have to pay if mom were outsourced in 2011.

If you didn't have her, for example, you might have to spend $6,285 a year on transportation (taxi driver or chauffeur, priced at $13.43 an hour). For cleaning, you'd have to pay a maid or housekeeper $9.40 an hour, or $7,104 a year.

Certainly, no one could ever place a monetary value on a mother's heart and love. I agree that a mother is not only "priceless," but irreplaceable. Let us honor our mothers and all of the things that they do to enrich not only our lives, but our world as well. Happy Mother's Day!

Scripture readings:

Genesis 4:1; Psalm 139:13; Luke 1:41; Luke 2:6-7; John 16:21; Psalm 131:2; 1 Samuel 1:23; Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 6:20.

Let's pray:

Loving God, we thank you for the love of the mothers you have given us,
whose love is so precious that it can never be measured,
whose patience seems to have no end.
May we see your loving hand behind them and guiding them.
We pray for those mothers who fear they will run out of love
or time, or patience.
We ask you to bless them with your own special love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a blessed day,

Amanda