This Sunday is Mother’s Day. You may not know it, but this is one of the most challenging days in the year for a pastor. I posted this on Facebook two years ago:

“Sometimes we like to joke about Christmas and Easter Christians, but there are a lot of people who only attend worship once a year and it is neither of those days. It is today: Mother's Day.

Likewise, I know there are numerous people who regularly attend worship who refuse to do so today.

It's difficult to keep both of these in mind along with the mothers in the congregation. Take it easy on your pastors if they don't do things the way you would have. It's actually a really challenging day.”

You probably have some family traditions for Mother’s Day, perhaps brunch, perhaps mom’s favorite restaurant for dinner. These are wonderful things that I hope you will continue to do in order to show your mother and grandmothers and great-grandmothers that you care about them.

But lest we forget, this day can be challenging for some. Some people do not have a great relationship with their mothers. Some people’s mothers have passed away and they don’t get to celebrate those family traditions anymore. Some people desperately wish they could have a family and be mothers but are unable to for one reason or another.

With all this in mind, I ask for your patience and tact this Mother’s Day. Be careful with your words. My sermon will not be about mothers. My sermon will be about Jesus, drawing from the Old Testament reading from Psalm 23. I will pray for mothers, but I will also pray for those who cannot be mothers, for single people, for those who have struggled as parents, those who have lost children to tragedy.

I ask that you would keep these people in your prayers as well throughout the week.

God’s blessings on your week.

Pastor Andy