As a Mother, I Need Pentecost

Today there was this odd mixture of Mother's Day and Pentecost at church.  The Children's Sermon was mostly Mother's Day-ish, with a Holy Spirit kind of twist at the end.  The sermon was more Pentecost-ish, with a mother kind of twist at the beginning.  The children were handing out flowers to moms as they left the sanctuary.  The colors in the sanctuary were red.  And every mom I met in the hallway said, "Happy Mother's Day!"... and I kept thinking, would they be offended if I replied, "Happy Pentecost!"? 

Because the truth is that I couldn't do what I do as a mom if it weren't for a constant refilling of the Holy Spirit in my being.  Mothers are expected to act a lot like God (I sort of got this from the children's sermon) - we are suppose to be always caring, always available, always putting others in front of ourselves, dying daily for the sake of our family, and doing so with a smile on our face, beaming with love that radiates into the whole house, filling it with warmth.  Who can do that all the time?  I NEED things like a fresh experience of Pentecost to enable me to do what I do at home.  I would far rather find that at church than a pat on the back if I had to choose.  

Sadly, I don't think many moms notice this, and the pat on the back sure feels good when the back is sore from a long year of constant and often overlooked service.  Mother's Day IS important.  But I think we do a disservice to mothers when we fail to give them what they need most - a fresh inpouring of the Holy Spirit.