Picking the perfect card

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABy Robin Gilbert Luftig

Picking the perfect Mother’s Day card has always been a challenge for me.  I can spend hours at the card shop reading about, “You’ve been the best influence ever” or “You’re my best friend.”  All beautiful sentiments, but don’t relate to our relationship.

My mother and I are not close as many mother and daughters are.  I love my mother and I know without a doubt that she loves me.  But some of life’s dark twists and turns got in the way of our relationship.

We’ve learned to do pretty well with what we have, but that came with a lot of work from both of us.  We once waffled between seeking Norman Rockwell moments and settling for awkward silence.

Our relationship took a turn, though, when we learned not to expect from each other what the other couldn’t give.  We discovered our expectations.

Expectations ~ the human side of shoulds or oughts ~ cause most of our problems and have the potential to ruin relationships.  Yet Christ’s divine guidance offers standards that set everything right.

Simply put, honor your mother and father.

Apostle Paul says in Ephesians, “Honor your father and mother” ~ which is the first commandment with a promise ~ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (6:2-3 NIV)

The love I have for my mother may be difficult to explain.  It isn’t about cards and flowers and ooey-gooey sentiment, but all in all I love her.  God tells me to, and that’s enough of a reason.

So if Mother’s Day is difficult for you, know that obeying God’s word brings life.  And life is a good thing.

Do your best to find the perfect Mother’s Day card.  And enjoy Mother’s Day.

 

About the author:                                                              SONY DSC

In 2009, Robin founded Renew Ministries, sharing with spiritually – and emotionally – broken men and women that God has a plan for their lives.  She has participated and led Divorce Care support groups and has written and published, From Pain to Peace: A Journey of Forgiveness After Divorce in hopes of sharing what she has learned ~ both good and bad ~ in life surrounding divorce.  She also contributed to a compilation of devotions, Christian Women Alive’s Thirty Day Devotional).  She just finished her second book, Ten Days to Live, recounting her experience in surviving brain surgery.  She attends Lighthouse Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with her husband, Lew, serves on its Steering Committee (governance board), and teaches/leads Sunday morning and home group discussions as her schedule allows.

www.robinluftig.com

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