Proverbs 31:28 — Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

You might recall that I think the Bible is a bit short of great examples of good fathers (I mention it in this post — http://ianandmyrarowlands.com/WordPress/2014/06/15/happy-fathers-day/). While I was thinking about what I should write on this Mother’s Day it occurred to me that the opposite is true when it comes to mothers. The Bible has plenty of examples of good mothers.
When people think about Biblical motherhood they usually cite some obvious role models — Eve, the mother of us all, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Sarah, the great matriarch who came to the job rather late, and that model of perfection in Proverbs 31. (I’m not sure that any woman should try to measure up to her — remember that was King Lemuel’s mother’s shopping list!). I’d like to remind you of some who seem more real to me …mothers doing what others do. One way or another, they each remind me of my own mother.

The first is the widow of Zarephath. Do you remember? When Elijah asked her for food she said:

 As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. (1 Kings 17:12)

She would rather die than watch her son starve.

Then there’s Eunice. We don’t know much about Eunice except that she was Timothy’s mother. Paul reminds Timothy of what he owes her:

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; (2 Timothy 1:5)

Like so many mothers, Eunice was her son’s first teacher.

Then there’s one of my favorites — the Sidonian woman. You can read about her in Mark 7 or Matthew 15. She had a daughter possessed by a Devil. She came to Jesus to ask Him to cure her. He, at first, repelled her — she persisted:

But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. (Mark 7:27-29)

Like many a good mother, this unnamed heroine was not going to let anything get in the way of getting what she needed for her child.

Just three of the great mother’s of the Bible … two without even a name … and I could have picked as many more. Many people have said it in many ways, but just once more, thank God for moms!