Coloring Mom’s World

From Barefoot in the Snow

Message for Mother’s Day (Third Sunday of Easter)

Scripture References: Proverbs 23:22 – 25 “… What a pleasure it is to have wise children. So give your parents joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.”

Preparation: Bring enough white carnations in a bucket so that every mother will get one.

Today is a very special day, isn’t it? Can anyone tell me what day it is? (Let children answer.)

Yes! Today is Mother’s Day! Have any of you done something special for your mom already today? (Let children share.) It’s really nice to have a day set aside to honor mothers. And although we should thank them every day, today we take time to let them know how much we appreciate them.

I brought something today that each one of you can give to your mom: a Mother’s Day present. Many moms like flowers, so I brought several buckets full of carnations. Everyone here who wants to give a flower to their mother can take one. But before I hand them out, I have to explain something.

(You may change this text to suit your own tastes. My example follows.) Before I ordered these flowers, I was trying to decide what color to get. I like red a lot, so I thought maybe that would be a good color for Mother’s Day. But I know another mom who likes purple. My own mom likes blue, and I know other moms who like yellow or green or pink or turquoise best. What color should I get? Finally I decided to get white, and I’ll tell you why.

Before a woman becomes a mommy, life is fairly neat and clean and orderly, like this white flower. (Show white carnation.) When a woman becomes a mommy, life is suddenly a lot more colorful. There are rosy red cheeks and muddy brown fingers, bright green grass stains and yellow dandelions, purple bruised knees and tan bandages, raspberry jam kisses and a rainbow of color crayons to admire on paper and to scrub off the walls. Mommies live in a very colorful world.

And because every mommy has her own favorite color, I want you to take your carnation home with your mommy and color it. To color the carnation, have a grown-up cut the stem at a slant, under water, and then put it in a vase with a little water and lots of food coloring in the color you want your carnation to be. The color will be drawn up the stem until it reaches the petals, and you’ll have a colorful carnation. (You may show an example.)

Thank you so much, Lord, for our moms who love us and take care of us. They give us some idea of how much you must love us, too.

Key Words: Love, Children, Patience, Appreciation