Happy Mother's Day

by David Shannon

Is "mother-n-law" a negative term to you? Not to me! God has given me a wonderful, beautiful mother-in-law. But think of the usual mother-in-law comments and jokes which place mother in laws at the bottom. Have you heard the one about the mother in law who was killed by a kicking mule. All the men in the community were offering top-dollar for the mule! How many sitcoms have pulled laughs from remarks about the strained relationship between a mother-in-law and others?

Prearranged marriages do bring an interesting turn to the "in-law" relationships since it would be the parents selecting their child's spouse! I wonder if under these agreements there are children who dislike their spouse while the in-laws think they are the best?

But we are fooling ourselves if we believe in-law relationships are the only challenging relationships in families. Looking to the first book in the Bible we realize good family relationships are not easy to maintain. Adam and Eve struggled in their relationship with God. Their sons, Cain and Abel struggled in their relationship with each other, ending in a murder. Issac and Rebecca showed partiality to their twin sons Essau and Jacob. Jacob had problems with his father-in-law, Laban, lying to him. Sibling rivalry continued with the sons of Jacob selling Joseph into slavery. Judah promised his widowed daughter-in-law Shelah, one of his sons to marry, but did not fulfill it, provoking her to dress as a harlot and conceive by her father-in-law. Potiphar's wife had eyes for a slave instead of faithfulness toward her husband, causing Joseph to go to prison.

The list of dysfunctional tales spread throughout Genesis like a wildfire making us realize good family relationships have never been easy to maintain! Good family relationships are a result of putting God first in everything!

This Mother's Day I plan to evaluate the way I treat the mother of my children, my mother, and mother-in-law. I plan to evaluate the way I treat my nieces and nephews mothers. If I take family for granted, I am probably neglecting them.

Mother's Days are always happier when everyone in the family is fulfilling their responsibilities in the home. I hope your mother's day is happy!

May 11, 2003



Happy Mother's Day by David Shannon Is "mother-n-law" a negative term to you? Not to me! God has given me a wonderful, beautiful mother-in-law. But think of the usual mother-in-law comments and jokes which place mother in laws at the bottom. Have you heard the one about the mother in law who was killed by a kicking mule. All the men in the community were offering top-dollar for the mule! How many sitcoms have pulled laughs from remarks about the strained relationship between a mother-in-law and others? Prearranged marriages do bring an interesting turn to the "in-law" relationships since it would be the parents selecting their child's spouse! I wonder if under these agreements there are children who dislike their spouse while the in-laws think they are the best? But we are fooling ourselves if we believe in-law relationships are the only challenging relationships in families. Looking to the first book in the Bible we realize good family relationships are not easy to maintain. Adam and Eve struggled in their relationship with God. Their sons, Cain and Abel struggled in their relationship with each other, ending in a murder. Issac and Rebecca showed partiality to their twin sons Essau and Jacob. Jacob had problems with his father-in-law, Laban, lying to him. Sibling rivalry continued with the sons of Jacob selling Joseph into slavery. Judah promised his widowed daughter-in-law Shelah, one of his sons to marry, but did not fulfill it, provoking her to dress as a harlot and conceive by her father-in-law. Potiphar's wife had eyes for a slave instead of faithfulness toward her husband, causing Joseph to go to prison. The list of dysfunctional tales spread throughout Genesis like a wildfire making us realize good family relationships have never been easy to maintain! Good family relationships are a result of putting God first in everything! This Mother's Day I plan to evaluate the way I treat the mother of my children, my mother, and mother-in-law. I plan to evaluate the way I treat my nieces and nephews mothers. If I take family for granted, I am probably neglecting them. Mother's Days are always happier when everyone in the family is fulfilling their responsibilities in the home. I hope your mother's day is happy! May 11, 2003	Mt. Juliet Church of Christ 1940 N. Mt. Juliet Road P.O.Box 248 Mt.Juliet, TN 37122-0248 (615)758-2274 Fax:615-754-2351 Email Worship Services: Sunday Early Worship: 8AM Sunday Bible Study: 9:15AM Sunday Late Worship: 10:15AM Night Worship: 6PM Wednesday Bible Study: 7PM