Every Saturday, Pastor Mike and Sherry write our congregation a letter of encouragement as well an introduction for the sermon topic he will preach the following morning. Below you will find the letter from May 11th, 2024. To watch this sermon, follow this link: Jochebed - Portrait of a Loving Mother - A Mother's Day Sermon on a courageous mother.
Week of May 12, 2024
To all who are “born again” into a new life in our Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you along with God’s abundant mercy. I give thanks to God for each and every one of you and it is a joy to mention you in my prayers. I pray our God and Father will continue to work within you producing His overflowing love and that through you He might touch the lives of many. Might we all join with David in exalting The One who is Worthy of all Praise.
“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:1-9).
The last time I saw her she was sitting in her wheelchair in the care center that had become her home. She didn’t recognize me and the look in her eyes told me she was just a little frightened of this stranger that had come into her world to take her away for the day. She was always a diminutive lady but at this point in her life she would have to stand on tip toes to make it to 4 ft. 5 in. She never had an easy life. Her father was a miner, both hard rock and coal. As a child the family moved to where the work was. In one year, they moved 10 times from one mining town to another. She grew up living in tents, and company-owned shanties and boarding houses.
Once, when the family lived in Central City, CO. and her dad was the foreman at the Glory Hole Mine her great adventure was to ride the company mule down to the local saloon to get her dad a tin of beer. Before she was tall enough to reach the sink, she was put to work washing dishes in the boarding house, (she’d stand on an empty dynamite crate to do the job). She never graduated high school because the money she had managed to save to buy a dress for the occasion was taken by her father to buy whiskey instead.
She met and married a man who truly was the love of her life. They began their life together in Idaho Springs, CO. He worked as a “powder man” blasting tunnels for the construction of a new roadway from Golden to “the Springs”. When that job ended, he went into the mines as a “powder man”. She was the “home maker” and they lived in a little cottage at the end of the road. When they moved down off the mountain he continued in the mines until the jobs ran out. Then he got himself a job at “Coors” where he worked until the day he died.
Together they raised three boys. They were raised with a firm hand and with more love than they could ever appreciate. I watched as this little lady would pound and knead the dough to make the bread we all loved so much. The family may never have had much but there were always beans and fresh bread, eggs (fresh from the hen house), meat (usually venison that shot in or out of season). One thing that was never lacking with the abundance of love.
I remember a neighbor inviting her to church. She began attending, bringing her three boys with her. I remember the day she knelt at the alter in the front of the church and accepted Christ as her Savior. I witnessed her baptism and wondered what it was all about. I watched as she gently and persistently witnessed to her husband, (he wasn’t real keen on that). Even through the opposition she faced from her husband, she faithfully took her three boys to church week after week. I remember when her faithfulness paid off, and the man she loved with all her heart gave his life to Christ.
I’ll never forget the day her world shattered into a million pieces when a Charge Nurse at Lutheran Hospital informed her that her husband had died. This was a pain that never left her, that day a great part of her died with him. Oh, she went on, there was still one boy left at home, but she carried that love with her until the day they would be joined again. She spent those years devoted to serving Christ in any way she could. In this way she honored her husband and worshiped her LORD.
Yes, the last time I saw her she was sitting in her wheelchair in the care center that had become her home. Yes, she didn’t recognize me, and she was just a little frightened of this stranger. As that last day with her progressed she began to become aware of me. I remember some of the last words she said to me, “I love you Tony, please don’t go away again.”
I remember another day. I had just finished preaching her funeral service. My two older brothers were standing with me at the side of her open grave. We watched as they lowered her casket into the vault and covered it over. I turned to my brothers, we each nodded in agreement. Now, after 45 years apart mom and dad once again together, this time in the glory and splendor of God their Lord and their Savior. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY MOM!
Thank you for indulging me with my memories, at least a few of them. I pray that on this day, which is set aside to honor our mothers, you will take time to reflect. If you still have the privilege of having your mother with you, take time to let her know how much she means to you. If, like me, your mother is no longer with you, take time to reflect and give thanks to God for that special gift.
I hope to see as many of you as possible at worship tomorrow. It is a special day as we will witness the baptism of three very special people. So, come for Bible Study at 9:45 and stay for worship at 11:00. God bless each of you, and I’ll see you there.
In Love and Service,
Mike and Sherry
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