As Mother’s Day approaches I know now that the gift of prayer and time spent together is the most meaningful one to every mother. Before Mother’s Day arrives this year, spend some time in prayer and reflection. Ask yourself what would build an everlasting memory with your mother for both of you. To accompany this gift of time and companionship, look through the small, useful gifts offered by CTA. They are simple, sincere, and practical, wrapped and ready to present, and accompanied by the word of God-the best gift of all.

As my wife relayed this story to me, she shared how God used that incident to speak to her heart about being genuine and consistent before our kids.

Too often, all of us act one way at church and a different way at home; when we come home, we “take our church off.” Our life is not to consist of two different walks, our everyday life and our church life. The virtue of integrity involves living our entire life, minute by minute, in ways that please our Lord–at church and everywhere else!

How often we fall short! How much we need the cross of our Savior! How thankful we are that God extends his forgiveness to us in our failures and his grace to help us in our weakness!

Moms, you live your whole life before the Lord–and before your children. Use the opportunities Jesus gives you to teach them to see God’s love and protecting care in all the ups and downs of life. Lean on him in times when you feel weak ,and trust his strength to supply everything you–and they–need. God gave you wonderful challenge when he made you a mom. Treasure it!

You may also be interested in finding Christ-centered and value-priced gift ideas to help your church celebrate all women this Mother’s Day. Here’s our selection:

• Be Blessed!
• Bouquet of Blessings
• Recipe for Life
• Woman of God

In addition, we offer a FREE retreat planning guide to plan a retreat for women and moms!

Here’s a quote from a customer in Columbus, Ohio:

Our Pastor at Bethel Agape Christian Center gave each mother on Mother’s Day your ‘Bouquet of Blessings’ devotional and beautiful matching mug. I just wanted to thank you so much for this beautiful book. I have read each of them and prayed each of the prayers … with excitement and joy. My new saying is ‘Lord, wherever you plant me, is where I will bloom.’ I just wanted to pour the same bountiful blessings that you have given us … back on you. May God richly bless you and keep you encouraged as your steps are ordered by Him.

Bouquet of Blessings for Mother's Day

Sarah Frasier from Rochester, New York sent in this comment about our Bouquet of Blessings bookmark and pen gift set:

I’m excited and can hardly wait to give the gift sets away to all women in attendance at the Mother’s Day service. I thought of doing something to bless young mothers in our neighborhood and the Psalm 103:2 just brought the message home and affirmed that I should not forget those mothers who have not been blessed as I have with my children. I live in the inner city but with God’s Grace all four of my children went to college. Three graduated from college and out of the three, two have advanced degrees (a PH’D and an MBA). I want to encourage others to stay prayed up and in the Lord and enjoy their bouquet of blessings.

I quite literally just stumbled upon your website. I’m the women’s ministry leader for my church in Mustang, OK & I was looking for gifts for the ladies in my group for Mother’s Day when I put in the search your website came up. I showed the items to my Pastor & we ended up ordering enough items to handout to all of the moms instead of just to our ladies group. I have saved your website to Favorite places because I will definitely be ordering from you again.

I wrote to the customer, Chris Baker, and requested her permission to publish her comment. Chris granted permission, which we sincerely appreciate because it enables us share our customer’s viewpoints and ideas about how CTA fulfills its mission to glorify God by providing purposeful products that lift up and encourage the Body of Christ.

If you are a customer of CTA and have a comment you think might help your Christian brothers and sisters glorify God, please share them here on this blog, or in the CTA Community Forum. And if you’re ever in Mustang, Oklahoma (just outside Oklahoma City), please drop by The Vision Church and say hello to Chris for us.

Blessed: A Bouquet of Benefits

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. . . . Forget not all his benefits.

Psalm 103:1–2

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

C. Austin Miles wrote these opening words of “In the Garden” nearly two centuries ago. As he thought about walking and talking with Jesus, he envisioned roses.

Roses of various colors have come to communicate different meanings. If we have eyes to see and hearts to understand, each color can represent blessings that come to us from God through his church, other believers in the body of Christ. As the fruit and gifts of the Spirit operate in us and in our brothers and sisters in Jesus, God encourages and strengthens us.

Red roses symbolize love, a fruit of the Spirit. We see Christ’s love for us in his blessing us with faithful pastors who proclaim God’s Word to us and who walk with us in the milestone times of our lives—births and deaths, Baptisms and confirmations, weddings and funerals. Week by week, our pastors remind us that like the red rose, the blood shed by Jesus expresses his unconditional and eternal love for us and his full pardon for all our sins.

Pink roses symbolize grace and elegance. What a blessing when friends in Christ’s church have and use gifts of hospitality. They create an atmosphere of warmth and beauty from the decor they design to the smiles, handshakes, and hugs they offer. These people bless us, encourage us, and build us up.

White roses represent purity, honor, and reverence. We might think of the intercessors in our church whenever we see white roses. Their prayer lives are deep, and they take our needs to the throne room of heaven with humility and faithfulness.

Many people see orange roses as communicating enthusiasm. Who has (or needs!) more enthusiasm than nursery and youth workers who mentor young believers and fill them with zeal to spread the Gospel?!

Lord Jesus, the people of my congregation come to me as true blessings from you! They make my life here on earth so much more full and meaningful! Help me cherish them, lift them up in prayer, and praise you for them. Amen.

The Scripture quotation is from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #041609. © 2008 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026-1205. www.CTAinc.com.

• Children might enjoy handing out your congregational gifts on Mother’s Day (and there’s no doubt the women will enjoy receiving it from a child).
• If you’re associated with a pre-school or Mother’s Day Out ministry, order additional gifts for moms who are from your community but not affiliated with your church.
• Will Mother’s Day recognition gifts stretch your church budget? Invite a men’s group to purchase them for the ladies. In turn, might a woman’s group be interested in sponsoring gifts for Father’s Day?
• Suggest Sunday School children write a note or draw a picture to include with the Mother’s Day gifts.
• Have you included gifts for women who are homebound or in assisted living situations?
• Does your church partner with an area crisis pregnancy center? CTA gifts with a Christ-centered message might truly bless those moms-to-be.
• Pastors, are you using the gift’s theme and Scripture reference as a title and text for your Mother’s Day message?
• If ordering Be Blessed mugs, purchase extra to keep in your church’s kitchen or staff work room.
• The CTA gifts for women (and men) can be used year-round for hospitality or evangelism visits.
• Have you considered using the product’s theme for your women’s retreat?
• Is this the opportune moment to recognize the support ministry of your pastor’s spouse with a special gift?
• Have you considered coordinating your sanctuary’s Mother’s Day decorations with the colors of the gifts?
• Have gifts been mailed to women away serving in the military or given to family members to share upon their return?

What ways have you used (or will use) to make an impact as your celebrate Mother’s Day?

From where I sit as part of the editorial team, the best compliments come from those who receive and read our devotion books for Mother’s Day. Again and again, we hear that the Christ-centered messages in those books have touched people’s hearts in a profound way.

Take for example the customer who received a copy of Bouquet of Blessings last year—and who later bought nearly 100 copies to distribute in doctors’ offices and laundromats, nursing homes and among the shut-ins in her church. It was her way of sharing the Good News of Jesus’ love!

Or take the nursing home resident who recently received a copy of Be Blessed and wrote to say, in essence, “I always believed there was a God, but now that I’ve read these devotions, I’m not afraid to die.”

CTA’s devotion books for Mother’s Day go beyond “feel good” items that make a good impression one day a year. We do everything we do in order to make an eternal difference in the lives of our readers!

P.S. Looking for a way to make this year’s Mother’s Day gift even more special? Or planning a women’s retreat this spring or next fall? If you order by April 17th, 2009, you can upgrade the soft cover versions of either Woman of God (NIV)  or Bouquet of Blessings (NIV or KJV)  to their hardcover versions. Order 1-11 soft cover devotionals at $1.49 each and upgrade to hardcover for only $.25 more each ($1.74 per book). But if you order 12 or more, we will upgrade your order FREE! You will receive the hard cover version for the same price as its soft cover twin—total cost, $1.49 per book!

Thank you so much, and may you continue to “Be Blessed”, inspired to produce more of these inspirational books to draw more people to understanding God’s grace and mercy and unconditional love.

Marge Andersen
Northbrook, IL

Editor note: View our entire Be Blessed product line.

Even if you would not ordinarily observe these two events in your church, you may want to consider doing so in this centennial year, using this anniversary to help all your women (whether they are moms or not) and all your men (whether they are dads or not) see the significance of the roles they play as spiritual mentors, teachers, coaches, and role models.

When I Grow Up . . . Populate the board with note cards on which older elementary and high school students finish the sentence: When I grow up, I want to be like . . . Encourage them to name adults in the congregation—parents, teachers, pastors, troop leaders, or people without formal roles but who nonetheless have influenced them. Encourage them to add a sentence or three explaining why they picked that person.

Start collecting comments a few weeks before Mother’s Day and keep adding to the board for several weeks after Father’s Day. You may even want to capture the comments and add them to your congregation’s website or print them in the August newsletter. Make extra note cards available near the display and encourage adults to participate too—naming their “mothers” and “fathers” in the faith.

That’s just one idea. What ideas did this spark for you? Post them as a “Comment” to this blog and let’s see how many we can collect. And do be sure to let us know how they worked for you!

Link here to find Christ-centered, affordable gifts that will help you make Mother’s Day and Father’s Day memorable for your members.