Name the top five TV Moms. Which one is the closest to what you would call a real mom?

Name five mothers from Scriptures. Write down one or two qualities you know about them.

Have you ever watched an old black-and-white TV show with mom, dad and kids? Is mom a stereotype? How has what we now think of as mom changed compared to what we have seen in the past?

A song was written in 1915 that goes like this:

“M is for the Many things she gave me
“O means only that she’s growing Old
“T is for the Tears she shed to save me
“H is for her Heart of purest gold.
“E is for her Eyes with love light shining.
“R means Right and Right she’ll always be
“Put them all together they spell MOTHER. A word that means the world to me.”

Rewrite the song with meanings that are more appropriate to your own mother (bonus if you can make it rhyme).

Write down your answers to these questions:
What do you remember about looking at the world through the window of the backseat of the car?
How far back can you remember this view?
How is this different from sitting in the front seat?
How is it different from looking at the world when you are driving?

Now go back and look at your answers and apply them to the way you see the world around you.

Have a volunteer stand up to be “mom” for the group. The rest of the group is to make small signs with paper and markers. The object of the game is to create the perfect mom (i.e., a purse with lots of money or anything else we might need; ears that always listen but can be removed when we don’t want her to hear something.) Tape 10 or 15 signs to the volunteer. Then go back of each one individually and talk about how our requirements can be unreasonable. Also, as we remove the perfect signs…mom becomes human.

Look at Proverbs 25. (Yes, the whole chapter.) Read line by line. Do any of these make you think of your mother? Imagine you are going to create five more verses for this chapter. What would they be?

Some Questions:
(OPTION: Prior to the meeting, hand out these same questions to the mothers of your students. Have them answer the questions for their children and their own mothers.)

What is the most common thing you and your mother fight about?

What is the most bizarre thing that ever happened when the two of you were together?

What did you inherit from your mother than you wish you hadn’t?

What did you inherit from your mother that you are glad you did?

What is the mom-ism that gets repeated most in your family?

What did you mother teach you about being an adult?

How did your mom compare to the moms of your friends?

How old was your mother when she had you?

What were your mother’s dreams when she was your age?

What is the biggest problem facing not just yours but any mother these days?

What do you think your mother likes best about being a mother?

What is the most frustrating part of her life?

What is your mother’s happiest moment in her entire life?

Read the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1-26. Could you do what Hannah did? The Jewish people in biblical times believed women honored God by having children. If a woman could not have children, she was unable to fulfill her purpose.

Read John 19:25-27. What was Jesus concern for His own mother?

How is Hannah’s story similar to Mary’s. Do you think your mother prayed for you before you were born? We’re you an answer to your mother’s prayer? Are you still?

There was an old man named Simeon who sat outside of the temple. He was really, really old. God had told him he would one day hold the Messiah in his hands. So, he waited there every day. When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple, Simeon blessed the baby but also told Mary she would feel a sword pierced her heart. Could you have a child who would bring you joy for 33 years, and then watch them die painfully? Do you think Mary knew the end of the story when she started it?

Rabbis in Jesus time would look at the list of commandments and give more importance to some than others. (The commandments can sometimes contradict each other.) Some were considered heavy, and others were light. Look at the list of the Ten Commandments. Where would you put, “Honor thy father and mother”?

A famous rabbi once said you cannot escape your parents. The more you try to escape your parents, the more you will see them looking back at you from the mirror. What does this mean? How can you recognize and honor your mother without becoming your mother?

There a number of verses in Scripture that deals with honoring your mother and obeying your parents. What if all you do is argue? What if your mother is not in the picture anymore? Though the word in most translations is honor, the Hebrew word is actually kavod, which means “give dignity.” You can give someone dignity even if you argue with them. List five ways you can offer kavod to your mother even if you aren’t particularly getting along at the moment.