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We love our mothers. What person doesn't love his mother? In day's gone by, when tattoos were the domain of sailors and others rough and tumble men, the stereotypical tattoo would say "Mom." Even a tough guy loves his mom.

Thoughts of mom often lead to feelings of warmth and safety. We might picture mom in the context of fuzzy feelings of the past and home. Somehow, childhood and mother and that old house you grew up in and that neighborhood you used to roam all come together as one nostalgic stew of emotions. On Mothers Day those feelings become even more prominent, especially when Mothers Day means a visit to the old homestead and not just a phone call and a Hallmark card.

In John 15:23 Jesus speaks about home and about the Father. "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." How many of us think of God dwelling with us and making a home with us when we think of home? Oh sure we may think about the house we live in now, that is home. We may think of the home of our childhood; the house that comes to mind on Mothers Day. But do we ever consider that our Lord has made a home with us?

When we live by faith and allow God's Word to be alive in our hearts, the Lord does make a home with us. The way Jesus put it a few verses later in John's Gospel is that the Spirit dwells in us to remind us of Christ and teach us about faith: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you (John 14:26)."

Mothers Day reminds us just how much we owe to our mothers. They were our protectors and caretakers and so much of who we are now is a gift from them. Likewise, Jesus is our Savior and joy comes to us through Christ. The Spirit, who makes his home within us, reminds us constantly of the Lord and points us to the peace of Christ that blesses us every day. The gift of the Advocate means that we don't have to wait for a special day or go to a special place to feel the comforts our our home in Christ. He is always with us. Through faith our God has made a home with us. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid (John 14:27)."

Unfortunately, there are many people, too many people, that don't feel joy on Mothers Day. The day brings up more feelings of sorrow and loss because of the curve balls life too often throws. Some people have lost their mother and spend the day visiting the cemetery. Some cannot take the lost memories of the past and feel despair hoping they could go right back to that old home. Some mourn their broken relationship with their mother or mourn the fact they cannot become a mother themselves. This is the reality of the world... there are ups and their downs. And for many the world's downs are hard to bear.

Jesus does not give as the world gives. The home that God makes with us is not an idealized memory from the past, it is a present reality found through faith in Christ revealed in God's Holy Word. The home that the Spirit makes will not leave us, nor will it ever be broken. Christ does not give as the world gives, he brings meaning to our worldly lives through the promised eternal life we already live through the Spirit.

And the result is peace. We have a home in our Lord, just as he has made a home with us. It's not a home made of wood that can burn. It is not a home made of flesh that is mortal. God has made an eternal home with us for all our days... our pasts our presents and our futures. This home gives us peace and calms our troubled hearts. Those who love Christ and keep his Word live and celebrate this gift.