A) Now this is not your usual Mother’s Day text, but it’s quite a classic story!
* But do you know what one of the problems is with classic Bible stories?
* We often learn the primary lesson and fail to see the rest of the story.
* This incident is used of God to show He had given Solomon the wisdom he had requested as king.

B) It proves that wisdom comes from God and only from God!
* The story also provides morals of motherhood from an unlikely source.
* The first moral of motherhood from this story is:

(1) THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT MOTHER!
* I do not say this to drag mothers down but to build them up.

A) No one needs to be treated with more tenderness than our mother!
* Perhaps no one is more caring and conscientious than our mother.
* Sometimes we are too hard on them, and sometimes they are too hard on themselves.

B) The two mothers in this story were prostitutes - v.16!
* Their babies were evidently conceived under sinful circumstances!
* That grabs you ... It makes you sit up in your church pew and take notice!
* Why did Solomon, the king, even take the time to worry with two prostitutes?
* These women, and the sinful men who paid for their services, were living out of God’s will.

C) Solomon was concerned about these two women because God was concerned about them!
* I don’t have to convince you that the church should stand for moral purity.
* But the church should also stand for forgiveness and restoration!
* These women were not living up to God’s standards, yet He still loved them!
* If any of us had to wait for God to love us based on our performance we would all be out of luck!

D) No, there is no such thing as a perfect mother,
* Just like there aren’t any perfect ones among the rest of us.
* And if there’s anyone in whom we should be willing to overlook faults, it should be our mother.
* Why? Because they’ve overlooked so many of our faults.
* We need to lighten up on mom a little, and moms need to lighten up on themselves a little.

E) Moms need to laugh and have a good time! * Here are a few good laughs for you.
* These are some quotations from the "Children’s Letters To God" series!
* These are actual authentic letters written by kids to God:
* "Dear God, I read the Bible. What does begat mean? Nobody will tell me." Love, Alison.
* "Dear God, did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?" Norma

F) "Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay?" Neil
* "Dear God, thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy." Joyce
* "Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up." Bruce
* "Dear God, please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year." Peter

G) "Dear God, I think about you sometimes even when I’m not praying." Elliot
* "Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love everybody in the world. There are only 4 in my family and I can’t do it." Nan
* "Dear God, I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday, that was cool." Eugene

H) Those kind of letters would make any mother smile!
* And just in case they don’t, find something to smile about, show them and make it a regular habit.
* Life is too short and God is too good to go around frowning all the time.
* Here’s another moral of motherhood from our story:

(2) GOD HAS ANSWERS FOR A MOTHER’S PROBLEMS!
* Don’t look for stress-free motherhood, it doesn’t exist.
* From the pains of giving birth, to the empty nest, to grandchildren and beyond, motherhood is stressful. * Once again, this is not mentioned to discourage anyone! * There is good news!

A) God is willing and able to assist moms in the problems they encounter!
* God didn’t give Solomon wisdom so folks would stand around the palace & say "ooh" and "ahh". * He gave His wisdom for a purpose! * God not only loved those two prostitute mothers,
* He also loved the little baby in this story.
* God dispatched His wisdom to Solomon to save the child.

B) He has wisdom to spare for parenting responsibilities today!
* He can guide and provide for mothers in all kinds of life situations - single moms, adoptive moms, step-moms, moms with special situations, you name it!
* Kids today have special needs, but that’s okay! * God has the wisdom to give you for the task!

C) He can teach you what to do and what to say in every situation.
* Like the mom who was tucking her small boy into bed one summer night during a violent thunder storm!
* She was just about to turn out the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice,
* "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
* The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug, "I can’t, Dear," she said, "I have to sleep with your daddy." * A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: "That big sissy."
* Here’s the third and final moral for mothers from this story:

(3) THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A MOTHER’S LOVE!
* The real mother in this story would rather see another woman raise her child than to see it split in two. * That is a good lesson to take note of!

A) You have to be willing to give up some things to be a good mother!
* Personal sacrifice is a very important part of motherhood.
* It begins by sacrificing their own bodies by carrying the child around in their womb for 9 months! * No mother’s child ought to get over that sacrifice!
* Our mothers fed us, nourished and protected us with their own bodies before we even saw the light of day.
* I don’t know anyone else who loves me enough to carry me around for nine months.

B) But a mother’s sacrifice doesn’t end there ... They keep on giving!
* They give up sleep for the midnight feedings!
* They give up personal goals to help their children achieve their goals.

* Ask yourself how many times you got a new outfit and mom wore the same old clothes,
* Or how many times she gave you the last helping at supper! C) We honor moms for all the giving they do!
* They remind us of God who is sacrificial and giving.
* He gave His only Son for a world of wayward children.

D) That kind of love should not go unnoticed and unappreciated!
* Respond to moms with great love and appreciation.
* And respond to the God who created motherhood the same way.

I O U’S TO MAMA
* Mom, I owe you for so many things, a lot of services. * Like night watchman for instance.
* For lying awake at nights listening for coughs, cries, cracking floor-boards, and me coming in too late. * You had the eye of an eagle and the roar of a lion.
* But you always had a heart as big as a house. * I owe you for services as a short order cook, a chef, a baker. *
* And four big ol’ strapping boys out of left-overs.
* I owe you for cleaning services, for the daily scrubbing of face and ears, all work done by hand.
* And for frequent dusting of a small boy’s pants to try to make sure that he lived a spotless life.
* And for washing and ironing no laundry could ever do.
* For drying the tears of childhood and for ironing out the problems of growing up.
* I owe you for services as a body guard, for protecting me from the terrors of thunderstorms, nightmares and too many green mangos.
* And Lord knows I owe you for medical attention, for nursing me through measles and mumps and bruises and bumps, splinters and fever.
* And let’s not forget medical advise either! * Oh no, important things like, "Don’t scratch it or it wont get well." * Or, "If you cross your eyes, they’re gonna stick like that."
* And probably most of all, "Be sure you got on your clean underwear boy in case you’re in an accident."
* I owe you for veterinarian services, for feeding every lost dog that came home, and for healing the pains of puppy love.
* I owe you for entertainment! * Entertainment that kept the household going through some pretty tough times. * For wonderful productions at Christmas, Easter and birthdays.
* And for making them all come true on a very limited budget.
* I owe you for construction work, for building kites, confidence, hopes and dreams.
* And somehow you made them all touch the sky.
* And for cementing the family together so it could stand the worst kind of shocks and blows.
* And for laying down a good strong foundation to build a life on.
* I owe you for carrying charges, for carrying me on your books for the necessities of life that a growing boy’s just gotta have.
* Things like, Oh, a pair of boots with a little pocket on the side for a jack/pen-knife.
* And one thing Mom I will never forget! * When there were only three pieces of coconut pie and seven hungry people, I noticed that you were the only one who decided that you really didn’t like coconut pie in the first place.
* These are just a few of the things for which payment is long overdue.
* The person I owe ’em too worked very cheap.
* She managed by simply doing without a whole lot of things which she needed herself.
* My I O U’s add up to much more than I could ever hope to repay.
* But you know, the nicest thing about it all is, that I know she’ll mark the entire bill paid in full, for just one kiss and four little words, "Mom, I love you."
* That’s just like Jesus Christ. * All that we owe Him is our life because He took care of all those bills on Calvary! * He paid the cost, He did it all for you and me!