GrandPause: Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her.

Proverbs 31:28

Peter was diagnosed with a deadly form of cancer and told he would not live out the year. As a dad of three young girls, the news was devastating. Lost in a fog of depression, his wife decided to arrange a trip to the mountains to cheer him up. She chose a place she knew would be special to him—a place with a lake like a mirror at the base of a forested and snowcapped mountain. The Forest Service built a cabin there that could be reserved, but there was a one-year wait list. She signed him up anyway.

When she told him what she had done, it only deepened his depression. “Everything there is so permanent,” he told her. “The mountain, the forest, the lake—but not me. One year from now I won’t be here.”

But Peter was wrong. A year later the mountain, the lake and the forest was gone. It all disappeared in the eruption of Mount St. Helens on Mothers’ Day, 1980. And Peter…? Well, the granted him many years of life after that.

Why this story other than it happened on Mothers’ Day? Because it serves as a reminder to me of the relentless love of a wife and mother that is more enduring than all the Mount St. Helens of our world. It is why we celebrate today this cherished gift God gave us—MOTHERS. There are few greater examples of sacrifice, unconditional love and perseverance than that of faithful, godly mothers and grandmothers.

Alongside mothers in particular, women in general—whether mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts—fill our lives with love and sparkle that we men dare not take for granted. I know that there are women for whom Mothers’ Day is an unpleasant reminder that they are not mothers when they so desperately want to be.

To you I want to encourage you by saying “thank you” for being a woman God uses to bless so many of us. May God fill you will joy and blessing because of who you are as a woman of God.

I also know that our world does not always recognize the privilege and honor of motherhood. Yet, I can think of no nobler calling. You are worthy of praise and honor. As an image-bearer of God you are a dazzling treasure that every son and daughter ought to guard and cherish.

So, on this Mother’s Day 2015, I say, let men everywhere sing the praises of all those women who have made a difference–mothers, grandmothers, those who stood in the place of mothers and grandmothers we may not have had, and those who gave of themselves to make our lives richer. Such women are deserving of our blessing for they serve as conduits of God’s blessing for us, our families, and our world.

I know I am richly blessed by a long legacy of amazing, godly women who have been a source of abundant goodness and grace in my life. Besides my mother and grandmothers, there are my sisters, my two beautiful daughters, my five adorable granddaughters and ‘adopted’ granddaughters, my late mother-in-law, in-laws, aunts, cousins, nieces and numerous other women who have contributed so much to my life.

Standing alongside, yet justifiably above them all in my view, is my wife, Diane. She is an amazing mother and grandmother, and my best friend. Her love, sacrifice and forbearance give glory to God and make her worthy of praise. Proverbs says, “Many women do noble things, but your surpass them all.” That is my Diane—daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and my friend and bride! Like Peter’s wife in our story, Diane strengthens my hope and reminds me that God is good and His love endures forever. May the Lord give her the reward she has earned.

Indeed, may every faithful, godly mother receive from the Lord, and their family, the reward they have earned. Volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and fire may change the landscapes of our planet, but the love and blessing of a mother endures as a force to be reckoned with from generation to generation. May your children rise up and call you blessed in the same way you have blessed us.