Who Is Grateful For Her Own Momma

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, my grandma thought that it was very important to have starched curtains up in every room. Now my own momma was busy raising young children and did not have the time to starch her own curtains—so my grandma decided to help. Every Saturday, I would walk over to her house. After feeding me a lunch of freshly made meatballs, Grandma would hand me a dollar to buy her some boiled ham at the deli. Just before I left her house, she’d hand me a grocery bag holding freshly laundered and starched kitchen and bedroom curtains that I took home to my mother.

I have thought about that grocery bag of curtains many times over the decades. It was like a sack of love that she sent home with me. It said all the things that the generations didn’t really say out loud back then. It told my mom, I see how busy you are. It said, I want you to know I am here for you. It said, I want you to have nice things, and it said in the loudest of voices, I love you. I carried that love note home carefully. I didn’t want to wrinkle a single panel. My momma let me help put them up when I got home. To this day, when I hang my own curtains, I think about how grateful my momma was for my grandma and her love notes, which looked like curtains in a brown grocery sack. There are so many ways to show love.

Scripture contains a wonderful story about how our Lord showed Peter that He still loved him by making him breakfast on the beach. Peter had a right to wonder. On the night Jesus was brought for trial, the religious leaders took Him first to the high priest’s house. Peter followed and stood in the courtyard by the fire. A servant looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him” (Luke 22:56). But Peter denied knowing Jesus. Later another person said, “You also are one of them” (Luke 22:58). But Peter denied it again. Finally someone insisted that Peter, a Galilean, must have been with Jesus, and Peter denied Jesus for a third time, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” (Luke 22:60). In that moment, a rooster crowed, and Jesus looked straight at Peter, causing him to remember that the Lord had foretold he would deny knowing Jesus three times. Peter then left the courtyard and cried bitter tears.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. After our Lord’s resurrection, Peter, a fisherman by trade, decided to go fishing. He and his partners caught nothing until a familiar voice called to them from the beach: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some” (John 21:6). When the net was instantly filled with fish, John said, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7).

When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”

While they were bringing in their catch, the Lord was preparing breakfast for them. This was such an act of love. It said, I came to the place that you love, the sea where you catch fish. It said, I prepared a table for you to nourish yourselves. He knew that the road had been hard. It said, I see you and who you are. And it said, You’re still welcome to come and eat with me, Peter.

Likewise, our own mommas sometimes reflect the love of Christ to us in their simple acts of kindness, empathy, and compassion. At times, other caring women in our lives teach us about the nature of God by loving us. For that we are so very thankful. Whether you have a momma by birth or by choice, each momma in our lives is a gift. Let’s pause and thank the Lord for them now.

Tonight we pray for the momma who is grateful for her own momma. Lord, she is thinking about the unconditional love her momma gives and the helping hands she offers when needed. Her momma’s smile encourages her when she feels down. When she is crying, her momma’s tears join in her own. Lord, we ask that You bless each of our mommas tonight. Grant them a good night of sleep and strength for tomorrow.

We ask in Jesus’s name, amen.

Lord, thank you for my own momma and the other women who support me on my parenting journey: