Mother's Day is Coming Up!

Today I read out of 1 Samuel and how God heard and answered Hannah's request to give her a son. It was neat to notice little details like how "She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly." I thought God understands our grief, and he puts our tears in His bottle. And what a vow Hannah took to make! "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me...and give your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life." Think about it, giving up your one and only child to do the work of the Lord forever. Yet she went away and her countenance was no longer sad, it was as if she eagerly anticipated the Lord's answer. She prayed believing like James 1:6 tells us to pray. I asked myself: Do I do this? Then I read on and came across this, "Now when she had weaned him she took him up with her...and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young." I pray that I'd be eager and willing to send my kids off to serve the Lord, should He bless me with children. We humans tend to grasp onto things so tightly like selfish little children saying, "mine!" God help me offer my life up as a sacrifice like in Romans 12, and hold things loosely knowing they are on loan as it were, from You. Then there's this long account of Hannah's rejoicing in thanksgiving :) She was such a good mom too...check it out, "Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. And His mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice." Samuel went on to be of great use to the LORD. I was amazed to read about one of the very first things God told him He was about to do. And Samuel had to reiterate it to Eli himself! Eli was like, "What did God say? Come on, let me have it..." And then came Eli's serious but quiet response, "It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him." Little did Sam's mom know :) I pray for my mom who doesn't know the Lord yet as well as for all the mom's out there who are without Christ. May we be thankful regardless, for we have a faithful and loving Father who has never, and will never relinquish His care.