MOMS

I had the privilege to lead a Lenten retreat for moms of high school students recently. Being a teacher, I wanted one word for them as a take-away that could help them remember the main points of retreat. So I used the word MOMS for an acronym.

First M stands for Mother Mary. She's the true model of femininity and beauty. There's no comparison to our Heavenly Mother for beauty and virtue. Don't you agree? Just look at any image of her and you can easily see the purity that this world so needs.

The letter O stands for obedience. It's good to remember the root of the word obey which means to listen. We need to listen for the voice of the Lord. "My sheep hear my voice." John 10: 27 But to listen we must make quiet time in order to hear. Set aside time, consecrate it for our relationship with the Lord.

The next letter M at first I thought would stand for ministering since mothers do so much ministering to their children and husband, but being uncertain I asked the Lord the night before the retreat to speak to me in my slumber and give me the "right" M word if that wasn't the best one. During that night, I woke with the word monopolize. What a surprising word, but the more I thought about it--the more it seemed right. I got the strong sense that he was saying I want to control everything in your lives--every area, every aspect, every detail. Okay, Lord, I'll use that word that I never would have thought of, but you impressed it upon me in my sleep.

And finally S stands for seeking. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6: 33 We must continually seek first the Lord. Each day it starts over in communing with him. We will seek him the rest of our life. And we will not stop until we come face to face with Him.

So, keep Mother Mary as your role model, learn to listen better which includes obeying what you understand him instructing you to do, commit every area of your life to God and ask him to monopolize it, and finally, seek him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength each and every new day.