Tag Archives: Mother’s Day

Teaching Illustrations

God’s Embroidery – What’s your Perspective?

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Many times our lives seem like a mess and it’s often our mothers who come to our rescue. We don’t always see the wisdom in the things they tell us to do and sometimes we think that we’re smarter than they are. But we often forget that many times, they see life through the lens of their rich life experiences. Often, it is only later, when we look back, that we appreciate their wisdom and guidance. What is true of mothers, is even more true of God.

God’s Embroidery – An illustration

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son, come and sit on my knee.”

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?” He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.” I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can’t they all be bright?”

The Father seems to tell me, “‘My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side.”

Author Unknown

A Learning Activity

  1. Ask the youth to imagine a big clock on the ceiling, the kind with hands on it.
  2. Ask the youth to then imagine the second hand moving around the clock in a clockwise direction.
  3. Ask everyone to reach out their hand and finger and point at the clock, and move their hands in a circle in the same direction the clock hand would be moving. (Demonstrate this for the group to see)
  4. Ask the youth to slowly lower their hand and finger to chest level, all the time still pointing at the celing and rotating their hand in the same direction.
  5. Now ask them to look at their finger and to tell you if their finger is rotating clockwise or counterclockwise?
  6. The answer: counterclockwise!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

 
Make it Spiritual

  • What changed during the activity? – The youth’s finger has NOT changed it’s direction during the activity, but the perspective has changed.
  • Have there been experiences in your life that seemed messy, chaotic, without any apparent plan? Explain.
  • What are some of the lessons your mom has taught you? Did some of them seem to make no sense at the time?
  • Are there some things in the Bible that you once found difficult to undertand?
  • What are some ways that a mom or parents have a different perspective from a child or youth?
  • What lessons from your Mom or from the Bible now make sense because you have a different perspective?
  • What are some ways in which God has a different perspective from us?
  • What do you think some of the famous Bible personalities might say about this lesson? Jonah swallowed by a fish? Joseph sold into slavery? Israelites marching around Jericho and blowing trumpets? The disciples at Christ’s crucifixtion? Paul on the Road to Damascus? Moses in front of the red sea?

Make it Spiritual

  • What are some of the lessons for life we can learn from this story and the activity?

Make it Personal

  • Maybe there are some things in life that you don’t understand now. Maybe there are some things that look messy and without a plan. What is an area of your life where you need to trust in God’s perspective on things?
  • Take a moment this week to thank God for having a plan for your life, and working things out for your good.
  • Take a moment this week to thank your mother for also having a plan to raise you well and to help you to have the best things in life, for having faith in you and putting all those things in place so that one day you might be amazed and delighted at God’s plan for you.

Scriptures

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; …” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:16

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

“But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

 


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Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan not only your next Mother’s Day event, but also other common holidays. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for the holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Creative Teaching Ideas

Appreciate Mothers (Mother’s day Idea)

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We must never underestimate the role that our mothers play in teaching us about God, about His Word, and about salvation. From a very early age, a mother is preparing us for life. Teaching us about our Creator and Redeemer is part of God’s purpose for mothers, and we must appreciate the godly mothers and honor them for taking up the challenge of preparing us for life.

Resources

You’ll need one set of these for every three youth:

  • Pair of clean (not smelly) socks
  • Hard boiled egg
  • Plastic cup

OR

  • A set of puzzle pieces from a small puzzle or cut out from a postcard or magazine and
  • a blindfold for each group.

What to do (Option 1)

  1. Divide the youth into groups of three.
  2. Give each group a pair of socks, one hard boiled egg, and a small cup.
  3. One person in each group must wear the pair of socks, one over each hand.
  4. Place the hard boiled egg in the cup and then place the cup is in thecsock-covered hands.
  5. Give the following instructions:

“The person with the socks is a friend who has come to you with a problem. He or she needs to peel the hard boiled egg so that no shell remains on it and place all the shells in the cup. Your friend may not remove the socks from his or her hands. Discuss the problem briefly then take action and help your friend. When your group finishes, remain where you are and quietly observe the other groups still working a their task. No other instructions will be given. Go!”

What to do (Option 2)

  1. Divide the youth into groups of three.
  2. Blindfold one member of each group. This blindfolded youth can talk and use his or her hands.
  3. Assign another youth in each group who can ONLY talk.
  4. The third youth in each group can use hands, but he or she CANNOT talk, and CANNOT touch the puzzle pieces.
  5. Give the following instructions:

“The objective is to be the first group to put the puzzle together. Your friend may not remove the blindfold. Discuss the problem briefly then take action and to help your friend complete the puzzle. When your group finishes, remain where you are and quietly observe the other groups still working a their task.”

Take It to the Next Level

Discussion

  • What were the instructions given?
  • What were the rules of the game?
  • What resources did you have?
  • What limitations did you experience?
  • What strategy did you team use to accomplish the task?

Make it Spiritual

In most cases you will find the unhandicapped persons peeling the egg and doing all the work or the blindfolded person being taken through a complicated process to complete the puzzle. The less obvious solution and the point of the task is to enable the individual to become free to help himself or herself. This is best accomplished if the two helpers remove the socks from their friend’s hands, or the person able to use his hands, but not touch the pieces to remove the blindfold thus freeing their friend to complete the task. (The directions only stated that the person with the socks or blindfold could not remove them.)

There were three ways around the problems:

  1. Do it for the person
  2. Instruct the person on how to accomplish the activity or
  3. Enable the person to do it him or herself.

This the role God has given parents. When we are born, we are very dependent on them to do everything for us. But very soon, they will start releasing some of that role and teaching us, then enabling us to do things for ourselves, to overcome our limitations. We gain strength, knowledge, skills, and wisdom to be the person God created us to be. It would be a sad state to never grow and mature and never be able to care for ourselves and someday care for others. But the role of parents is not simply to equip us for life with knowledge, skills and wisdom. We were created as spiritual beings so that role also extends to preparing us for our relationship with our Creator and Redeemer.

Make it Practical

  1. Make a list of things you have learned from your parents – skills and knowledge.
  2. What have you learned from your parents, by example and by their teachings about God?
  3. What is our responsibility related to learning from our parents?

Make it Personal

  1. Thank your mother for sharing with you lessons and skills to prepare you for the purpose God created you for.

Scriptures

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother•s teaching.”
– Proverbs 1:8

“My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.”
– Proverbs 6:20

King Lemuel in Proverbs 31:1 said that it was his mother who taught him about how to recognize a godly woman who would be a godly mother for his children.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
– Proverbs 22:6 ESV

“The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”
– Proverbs 29:15 ESV

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
– Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
– 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

“A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.”
– Proverbs 15:5 ESV

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:14-17 ESV (Timothy’s godly heritage was a result of his mother and her mother before her (2 Timothy 1:5).

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
– Luke 2:52

“He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.”
– Psalm 78:5-6 (See also Deuteronomy 4:10)


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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan not only your next Mother’s Day event, but also other common holidays. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for the holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Discussion Questions

What the Bible Says about Mothers

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God, who created moms, has a very high regard for motherhood. He even compares His love for His children to the nursing mother’s love for her own child. As Christians, we are called to reverence our moms and to honor them accordingly. “Success as a family, as a society depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.” Barbara Bush, 1990.

What does the Bible teach about Mothers?

 

  • It has been said, “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” Read Proverbs 14:1 and discuss the influence of mothers.
    What influence has your mother played in your own life?
  • In Proverbs 31:10-12, it says “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”
    How she your mother blessed you by being the woman described in this passage.
  • Proverbs 31:26-31 says “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many woman do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive , and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
    What are some precious instructions for life you learned from your mother?
  • “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 66:13)
    In what ways has the comfort of your mother taught you about the comfort of God?
  • In what ways is a mother described in these verses: Exodus 2:1-10; 2 Kings 4:19-37; Luke 7:12-15; Luke 2:51
    How has your mother shown these qualities?
  • Read Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 6:24-34, Titus 2:4-5, 1 Peter 3:1-4
    What does the Word of God say about working mothers at home and working mothers at work? When is working a complement to motherhood, and when does it crowd it out because of materialism?
  • How does God feel about single mothers and how does He help them? How can we help, encourage, and comfort single mothers who are struggling? 
    (See Exodus 22:22-24, Deuteronomy 10:18, 14:29, 24:19-21, 26:12, Ruth 4:10, Psalm 16:7-11, 68:5, 146:9, Proverbs 15:25, Isaiah 1:17, 41:10, 53:3-6, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Mark 12:42-43, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
  • What word do we find for moms & dads as parents in Proverbs 13:24 and Proverbs 29:15-17?
    Why is this significant?
  • Read Galatians 4:4-7, Ephesians 1:15-20, 3:14-21
    In what ways are we blessed, who belong to Him who was born of a woman? 
  • Based on what we have learned, What is our responsibility toward our moms? 
    (See Exodus 20:12, Leviticus 19:3, Proverbs 1:7-8; Ephesians 6:2; Deuteronomy 21:18,19; Genesis 32:11; John 19:25-27)


Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan not only your next Mother’s Day event, but also other common holidays. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for the holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Humor

How to Know if You Are Ready to Have Kids

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Mess Test
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

Toy Test
Obtain a 55 gallon box of Legos (or you may substitute roofing tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream because this would wake a child at night.

Grocery Store Test
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight & pay for anything they eat or damage.

Dressing Test
Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.

Feeding Test
Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.

Night Test
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag & fill it with 8-12 pounds of sand. Soak it in water. At 3:00pm begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00pm.Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00a.m. Set alarm for 5:00. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

Automobile Test
Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it into the cassette player. Take a family size package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Physical Test (Women)
Obtain a large bean bag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the beans. And try not to notice your closet full of clothes. You won’t be wearing them for a while.

Physical Test (Men)
Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

Final Assignment
Find a couple who already has a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training and child’s table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers.

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Parents Ministry

How to Get Along with Your Parents

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How to Get along better with your parents
  • Avoid raising your voice with your parents at any time.
    One sure way to start a real argument with misunderstandings and hurt feelings is to raise your voice during a discussion. (See Proverbs 15:1)
  • Let God change your parent’s minds; that’s His job, not yours.
    It is often difficult when your parents refuse to give you permission to do something you really want to do. Take their answer as coming from God Himself and go to Him in prayer about the situation. As you know, God is very powerful and He can work to change your parents’ minds.
  • Astound your parents with the over-obeying method.
    It will help your parents know that you are maturing and can handle responsibilities on your own. The next time Dad asks you to wash the car, mow the lawn as well. Or, the next time Mom asks you to do the dishes, maybe clean up the living room as well. Not only will this blow your parents’ minds, but, after a few attempts at this method (done sincerely by you, not as a way to manipulate your parents) you will begin to see it pay off!
  • Encourage your parents. 
    Sometimes parents become confused and hesitant also. They need encouragement too!
  • Set a good example for your parents by staying away from alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs.
    Parents tend to copy the languages, styles, and tastes of the young as it is the only reasonable substitute for finding the fountain of youth. The example you set is very important.
  • Be concerned about the outside activities of your parents. 
    Insist that they bring their friends home so you can meet them. Be sure they get to bed at a reasonable hour, especially on weeknights. Wouldn’t want them to burn themselves out, would you? Also makes things more enjoyable in the morning if everyone has had a good night’s sleep.
  • Carefully watch your parent’s activities in the home.
    The effects of television on adults is not the greatest these days. Daytime soap operas are much too strong for the average mother, and fathers may not be able to take all the violence and sex on nighttime shows, especially after a hard days work.
  • Don’t be too strict with your parents. 
    Allow them to have some access to the phone, the stereo, or the car. Otherwise they might get jealous and take it out on you.
  • Let them have their way sometimes, especially with the little things.
    If you show you are willing to give in some of the time, they are more likely to cooperate when it is some big deal to you.
  • At least once a week do something nice for your parents.
    The key is to do something before being asked. You will be surprised at the results.
  • Never, never, never do anything to betray their trust in you or make them question your honesty.
    When your parents lose faith in you and it is your fault, you have lost big time.
  • Love them as if you were loving Christ–your home will never be the same!


Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and many other common celebrations. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all the next holiday and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Teaching Illustrations

The Mother of Mother’s Day

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Attributed to Paul Harvey?

Anna May Jarvis, quote: “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. You give your mother a box of candy and then go home and eat most of it yourself….”

Anna May Jarvis, quote:
“A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red….”

Anna May Jarvis, still quoting now:
“You ought to give her something useful, something permanent. A lot of mothers are sleeping on mattresses that are as hard as rocks. Maybe she needs new eyeglasses, comfortable shoes, a pair of slippers, or better lighting fixtures. Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing. . . .”

What about flowers, Anna May?
“Flowers are about half dead by the time they’re delivered.”

And Anna May goes on to say that she won’t rest “until Mother’s Day becomes the personal family Memorial Day it was intended to be.”

If anyone had the right to speak out against the commercialization of Mother’s Day, it was Anna May Jarvis. That second Sunday of thoughtfulness each and every May was Anna’s idea in the first place. Anna May Jarvis was the Mother of Mother’s Day. Anna May Jarvis, born May 1, 1864.

She was a minister’s daughter, described as a quiet, studious girl in school who liked everyone and whom everyone liked. Anna was just two weeks forty-two, working for a life insurance company in Philadelphia, when her mother died on the second Sunday of May, 1906. Friends noticed a change in Anna in the months following that unhappy occasion. No longer the gentle, easygoing woman they knew, Anna became obsessed with but one desire: to see her mother and motherhood honored annually throughout the world. After more than a year of careful planning, Anna arranged the first Mother’s Day church service-May 10, 1908-at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday school. Anna worked hard to promote her idea. A year after that first memorial service in West Virginia, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years passed. West Virginia made Mother’s Day a statewide observance. One year later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation from Congress-a document recorded as Public Resolution 25-to establish the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day forevermore.

And it had all begun with Anna. But Anna, now fifty years old, was not content with her victory. She retired from her job at the insurance company to spend her remaining thirty-four years, and her entire fortune of over a hundred thousand dollars, campaigning against the commercialization of the day she had founded in honor of motherhood. She interrupted florists’ conventions to express her remorse at their “profiteering”; wherever there was a forum for her cause, she spoke out. Then one day, when she was too old and too tired to speak out, she was placed penniless, deaf and blind in a West Chester, Pennsylvania, sanitarium. She died there in November of 1948; she was eightyfour.

And if the story of the woman who invented Mother’s Day is made even more poignant, it is by the fact that she, Anna, would never benefit from that time of remembrance. For Anna May Jarvis-the Mother of Mother’s Day, who devoted her life and her fortune to its reverent observance-was never married and was never a mother.


Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan not only your next Mother’s Day event, but also other common holidays. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for the holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Parents Ministry

Family Hunting Trip

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A Father, Mother, and Teenager went hunting together. When a prize buck ran past them, the parents and the youth all fired at the exact same moment and the buck dropped.

However, there was only one bullet hole and they didn’t know which of them shot it. So they took it to the registration center, not knowing who should tag it.

The agent said, “Let me look at the deer. Sometimes I can figure it out.”

He asked a few questions, examined the deer carefully, and declared, “The teenager shot this buck!”

Amazed, they all asked how he knew. Stooping down he pointed out the wound, “See here. It went in one ear and out the other.”

 


Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and a variety of other holiday events. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for the holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Humor

Worst Mother’s Day Gifts from Youth and Husbands

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Mother’s Day can be a wonderful celebration, but it is also a very dangerous day for youth and fathers. The biggest peril is buying a Mother’s Day Gift. After all, everyone is supposed to know what she wants. Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy.

So, whether you are a youth or the husband, here are some Mother’s Day gifts to avoid. Of course there are mothers who do love some these gifts, but for the most part, the rest of the world’s mothers would be delighted if you carefully avoid them.

Hopefully this list will keep you out of trouble, but then again, mother’s also have this uncanny desire to be different, to be an exception to the norm, sometimes just to keep you guessing.

Of course, regardless of what you get her, she’ll tell you how much she loves it. After all, she’s your mom. But later, when you are out of site, she’ll wonder why her son or daughter or husband couldn’t think of something more personal.

Mother’s Day Gifts that Youth to Avoid

Anything Vaguely Related to Weight
No matter how much mom talks about wanting to lose weight, Mother’s Day is NOT the day to give her a loving hand with her love handles. Forget the diet books, the exercise equipment, the membership to the slimming salon. Nothing says “I love you, Mom” quite like anything that hints at weight loss, getting healthier, or looking better. Stay away from anything designed to let her know where she could use a little improvement.

HINT: Don’t use Mother’s Day to buy a mom a scale, a tape measure, or anything that even vaguely suggests that mom is not incredibly beautiful just the way she is!

Clothes
Clothes are a lose-lose situation. If they are too small, she’ll think she’s fat because she can’t wear them. If they are too big then she’ll be offended that you think she is so fat. And don’t event mention colors and fashion.

HINT: Clothes are best avoided at all costs unless you taker her shopping!

Anything for the Bathroom
The rose scented bubble bath that you bought her last year is still under her bathroom sink, unopened. So is the one from the year before that. Scented soaps and bath gels carry a subtle hint that mom stinks and needs to bathe more often. And, you will be grown and have youth of your own long before mom finds the time for a relaxing soak in a Bubble Bath!

HINT: Avoid bath soaps, shampoo, bubble bath, and shower gels

Cleaning Supplies
While mothers often complain about how much easier it would be to clean the house if they had the new Tornado 2000 vacuum cleaner that sucks up every speck of dust in sight, or that new self-wringing mop from the infomercial on late night TV, Mother’s Day is not the day to entertain her cleaning needs. Anything used to clean doesn’t say “I love You, Mom” but instead hints that she isn’t doing enough around the house to clean up after the youth and kids. Even though you are trying to get her something to lighten her workload, the last thing she wants to be reminded of on Mother’s Day is that she is the same level as a live in maid.

HINT: Why not clean the entire house for your mom on Mother’s Day. She might pass out in shock, but at least she’ll have a smile on her face.

Household Appliances
Don’t give mom gifts that make her work harder. Mother’s Day is about appreciation and relaxation, not cleaning appliances and sanitation. Its not about a new washer, a steam cleaner, a sewing machine, and most certainly not about the new iron. And if you are replacing something that’s broken — it doesn’t even count as a Mother’s Day gift. Giving appliances for Mother’s Day is like your boss giving you work to take home on the weekend.

HINT: Surprise her with the appliances on another day of the year, just to say “I love you.” And instead of simply presenting it to her all wrapped up in a box, take it out, use it to get the job done, then tie a bow on it. Mom will love that you helped out more than the fact that you got her a gift.

Things for the Kitchen
Just because mom admired the new turbo toaster that not only toasts but also butters the bread, doesn’t mean that mother’s day is the her special day to get one. After all, how often does she make toast for herself? Sure, these appliances might make her life a little easier in the kitchen, but you’re the one she cooks for anyway!

HINT: Avoid anything that hints at the kitchen – bread makers, knives, food processors, blenders, can openers, salt and pepper shakers, pots, pans, aprons are best avoided. Surprise her with them on another day!

Something on Your Personal Wishlist
Mother’s Day is not the day to kill to birds with one stone. Who’s going to spend the most time glued in front of the new 3D LCD TV? Nor do they want sports equipment, or anything for a car. If you are a youth who already has a driver’s licence, why not take her shopping.

HINT: Moms don’t want basketballs, sports shoes, soccer balls, new windshield wiper blades, floormats, unless they have a true passion for such things.

Anything that’s Alive and Needs Mom’s Help to Stay Alive!
If it poops, slithers, or crawls and needs to eat or drink, it is probably not a good idea. Houseplants that need care are probably out too. Maybe a tree or a rosebush planted outside that requires little care would work if she likes such things. Mother’s gave gifts like these send the message: “Hey mom, you don’t have enough to do. Taking care of the pets and watering the plants will keep you from getting bored around the house while I am at school!” We all know that eventually, she’ll be responsible for taking care of them!

HINT: Flowers are ok, as long as they are given together with something else. Given by themselves they just reveal that you thought about a Mother’s Day gift for the 5 minutes it took to put it on your dad’s credit card.

IOU Coupons and Homemade Gifts
Offering free housecleaning, dishwashing or to walk the is nice. But shouldn’t dad and the youth be doing these things once in a while for mom anyway? Anyway, when was the last time a mom successfully redeemed a coupon for these services. Life’s busy schedule always seems to get in the way. And somehow the redemption always seems to be requested at the busiest times. Homemade gifts are just as risky. Moms usually treasure the thought when you are really young, and they may stay on the shelf for public display, long after you have grown up and left home. But as your grow older, homemade gifts will be fussed over and displayed for a while, but them placed in a drawer and forgotten unless they are really well done. And this includes anything that has “#1 Mom” written on it. They are great for yard sales, but every other mom has one just like it.

HINT: Personalise gifts when you can, but be very careful with picture frames, homemade jewelry, and arts and crafts.

Things Mom Needs
There are always things that Mom’s need. A new towel, sheets for the bed, diaper bags, craft supplies. The list is never ending. But Mom’s deserve something SPECIAL on Mother’s Day. If it is something she needs, save ot for another day. These kinds of things should be provided as needed anyway. And a new computer probably isn’t the best either, though she might enjoy an ipad 2. Anyway, everyone knows you want the new computer to play the latest online games and chat with your friends on facebook.

HINT: Instead of giving her something functional, get her something extravagant for mother’s day. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, it just needs to be out of the ordinary.

E-Gifts and Cards
We live in the internet age, but Mom’s won’t find virtual gifts very endearing. “Dear Mom, I cared enough to send you the very best e-card!” Mom likes the joy of opening a present and holding something real in her hands. This includes online games, facebook additions, computer wallpapers and emails. And you ought to be giving her digital photos on a regular basis anyway! A simple text message is even worse.

HINT: It’s always best to meet her in person and present a physical gift, even if it is your presence, rather than give her anything digital. If you want to give her something digital, why not give her that sheik new smartphone, a digital picture frame loaded with all your favorite photos or a nice new digital camera. Just make sure you are buying it for her, and not for yourself!

The Absolute WORST Mother’s Day Gift
Don’t get her anything at all, don’t do anything with her, or completely forget that today is her special day! Nothing says “I love you” like forgetting about the very special woman who spent years changing your diaper, packing your lunch and yelling at you to “clean your room” while quietly cleaning it for you while you were away at school.

HINT: Even if you have to buy her a last-minute gift, and break all the rules above, never show up empty handed on Mother’s Day!

Be sure and wish your Mom a wonderful and Blessed Mother’s Day!

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Mother’s Day celebration or youth event in honor of mothers. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do with your youth in celebration of the various holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Humor

Things Mother Would Never Say

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On Mother’s Day we take the opportunity to thank our mothers for all the advice and care they have given to us over the years, especially during our years as children and as youth. But a mother is a mother forever!

As something a little different, why not add a comment by clicking on the comment link in the box at the bottom of this post and share a real word of advice given to you by your mother.

“How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?”
“Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too.”
“Just leave all the lights on … it makes the house look more cheery.”
“Let me smell that shirt — Yeah, it’s good for another week.”
“Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I’ll be glad to feed and walk him every day.”
“Well, if Ron’s mamma says it’s okay, that’s good enough for me.”
“The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It’s not like I’m running a prison around here.”
“I don’t have a tissue with me … just use your sleeve.”
“Don’t bother wearing a jacket – the wind-chill is bound to improve.”

And be sure to let your mom know you appreciate her this Sunday for Mother’s Day!

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Mother’s Day celebration or youth event for mothers.  If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for Mother’s Day and other familiar holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Food for Thought

Mother’s Prayer for her Children

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It has been reported that Susannah Wesley, the mother of John Wesley spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children.

In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters.

No wonder two of her sons, Charles and John, were used of God to bring blessing to all of England and much of America:
John Wesley is listed as #50 of the greatest Britons of all time.

  • He is credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement.
  • His writings and sermons also developed into what is known as the Holiness movement.
  • He organised and formed numerous Christian focused societies throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
  • He regularly preached the gospel two or three times a day.
  • He was said to have rode on horseback 250,000 miles, given away 30,000 pounds, and preached more than 40,000 sermons in his lifetime.
  • He constructing chapels for worship
  • He supervised schools and orphanages
  • He prescribed medicines for the sick
  • He commissioned itinerant preachers to spread the gospel message
  • Near the end of his life he was widely respected and referred to as “the best loved man in England.”

 

Charles Wesley wrote more than 5,500 hymns.

  • Many of his still very popular today and about 150 of his hymns are in the Methodist Hymn book.

 

The prayers of a mother make a difference. Thank your mother for her prayer this Mother’s day!

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Mother’s Day celebration or youth event in honor of mothers. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do with your youth for the various holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection