Andrew Wommack's Blog, page 22

Receiving from the Father

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 14:26

My dad’s secret place is in the mountains. A passion for hiking flows through his veins, and many times God speaks to him while he’s on a trail. He hiked Mount Olympus at twenty-seven years old. (No, not the one Homer wrote about in the Odyssey, just in case you were wondering.) It was while hiking down that mountain in Utah that he encountered God in a way that changed his life forever.

The quiet solitude that usually envelopes his hikes did not still his mind this time around. Instead, a Ping-Pong match of opinions feverishly ensued in his mind: Was the baptism of the Holy Spirit for today or not? Just a few days ago, his brother had prayed in tongues in front of him. But this went against everything he had been raised to believe in church.

The argument in his head continued for a few minutes. He focused his frustration into each step he made on the mountain. Rays of light pierced through the branches. Crushed blades of grass swirled in his wake as a gust of wind blew in from out of nowhere. All of a sudden, he started to feel different. Something stirred within him. Then, from deep inside, something bubbled up. An unspeakable joy overwhelmed him; he could not help but laugh, and a language he had never spoken spilled out of his mouth.

My dad does not skip. But he told me that he began to skip “like a little girl” down the trail that day. It reminds me of the lame man Peter healed in Acts 3:8: “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” To this day, my dad considers that one of his best hikes.

I am so thankful for an earthly father who is hungry for God. Dad, thank you for showing me how I can have a personal relationship with God.

Whether or not you have a dad in your life this Father’s Day, you do have a Father in heaven who loves you dearly. So, whether it means being alone in your room or taking a hike into the mountains, go to your secret place with Him today.

Happy Father’s Day!

Please leave a comment below if this blessed you. Also, be watching for The Present-Day Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Andrew’s newest teaching, which will begin airing on July 3. 

Written by Aria Fischer

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Vintage Dad

Even when I was little, I knew my dad was not “modern.” He systematically chose traditional or slower means to do most anything. If my dad had an option between driving a back road or the highway, he’d take the back road. On Sunday afternoons, we’d choose to play board games over watching TV. His attraction to all things retro was especially true when it came to family vacations. A Coleman coffee percolator and folding stove, lots of clothesline, and pup tents were standard equipment. Dad’s great escape was for all seven of us to go camping for most of the summer.

While some neighborhood children graduated from high school never having seen an ocean, we spent all summer going beach or forest camping. We came home only long enough to shake the sand (or dirt) from our belongings and to mend our canvas tent; then off we went again in our ‘70s VW bus.

The neighborhood kids teasingly dubbed our vehicle the “Quinker-mobile,” sensing our family was a throwback to an older time. The term “Quinker” came from our last name, Quinn, and the word Quaker. Suffice it to say that as transplants from New England to the more familial western Pennsylvania, we were different right off the bat—in accent, cuisine, and lack of extended family. That, coupled with my dad’s strong desire for privacy, made us ripe
for labels.

My dad had retro tendencies even as a young parent. He loved the music from the ‘30s and ‘40s. He seemed to always find stations playing old crooner songs like Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust. My dad even looked vintage. He maintained the same short brush cut he was issued on his first day as a Marine. Duty and tradition flanked his way as he led us—his small platoon.

These tendencies also spilled over into the holidays. Holiday preparation began in October with root beer production. We were like an assembly line as we bottled and stored the root beer until Thanksgiving. Then, with my mother’s home-cooked feast finally on the table, we would uncap the root beer. It was one of his traditions that we could all get behind.

As a teen, I thought my dad tried to make us culturally odd on purpose. However, as a young adult, I realized that he had built in us a sense of family identity. Within a larger culture spinning out of control, my dad had thoughtfully engineered our stable family culture. His insistence on low-tech, older ways was an effort to slow our world down so that we could be children. We grew up with a rich background of games and memories unique to us. Having only one child myself, I often retold my childhood stories to my son. As a mom, I created stories and songs for him to remember.

Belonging to Christ, I have come to realize the power of identity. With a family of people, there is joy in shared stories and meals. In the midst of hardship, we can fall in line behind what we know is true and it will light our paths, shielding us from the attacks of an enemy.

As a moral and duty-loving man, my father led us to the knowledge of right and wrong and instilled in us a faithfulness to serve. I thank God for my dad, and I stand on this promise: One day he will intimately know his heavenly Father who instilled every good thing in him.

Do you have a favorite childhood memory about your father? Share it below. We’d love to read about it!

Written by Eileen Quinn

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Bring Back the Dads

Fatherlessness has become all too common in our generation. The results have led to a deconstruction of the family God intended. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “between 1991 and 2009, children living with only their mother increased from 21 percent to 24 percent.”1 That’s almost one out of every four! Saying that’s not good would be an understatement. Although this crisis is relatively new to the U.S., it’s not new historically. It was a problem in Bible times too:

“You may have ten thousand teachers in Christ, but you don’t have
many fathers.”

1 Corinthians 4:15a, Easy-to-Read Version

Well, what, really, is a father?

Taking the above verse in context, Paul wasn’t necessarily talking about dads abandoning their posts. Essentially he was talking about spiritual fatherhood:

“For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”

1 Corinthians 4:15b, New King James Version

Paul seemed to be indicating that there was an epidemic of men who were not part of raising up the next generation; that is, making disciples. Whether it was a matter of these men being unwilling or uninterested is not known. What is known today is that an entire family’s faith is in jeopardy when a father isn’t present. The Baptist Press, in its article entitled “Want your church to grow? Then bring in the men,” reports that if a father is the first to become a believer in his family, there is a 93 percent probability that everyone else in the household will follow.2 Wow! As a dad goes, so goes a family, and so goes a society. This tells me that if a society is going to be godly, dads must be a part of it, whether they are biological dads or spiritual dads.

Now, what is needed to remedy the problem of fatherlessness? I would venture to say it’s not a what that’s needed, but a who! Read this verse:

“ [John the Baptist] will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Luke 1:17, NKJV (brackets mine)

If John the Baptist was the cure for fatherlessness in his day, what would it be like to have a reemergence of people like him today? I believe it’s something that needs to happen.

I am thankful that God has sent men to be fathers in my life. They have raised me up to take my place in raising up the next generation. This Father’s Day, I’m going to honor them in the way the Lord says:

“Children honor their fathers.”

Malachi 1:6, ERV

I encourage you to honor the men in your life who have been fathers to you. They were used of God to help make you who you are. And, of course, make sure you honor the Father of all fathers, God Himself!

If this article has ministered to you, please leave a comment below.

_______________________

1 https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/children/cb11-117.html

2 http://www.bpnews.net/15630/

Written by David Moore II

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A Father's Love

“Dad.”

“I see them. I won’t run them over. She just never listens to me. I’m so
tired of—”

“Dad. They’re shooting at each other.”

This was one moment with my father that I will never forget. Dad and I were on our way through one of the more rundown parts of Flint, Michigan, to pick something up from a friend who lived there. Dad was distracted with a story he was telling me when I saw the teenagers who had been in the road suddenly scatter to duck behind trees and cars. Something inside told me things were off even before I heard the shots.

Dad immediately slammed the car into reverse to get away from them.

One boy was shot. I saw him go down behind a tree; I screamed that we had to try to save him. My father yelled, “We have to get out of here!” All I could do was cry as I watched the scene fade away.

I know a lot of people who might say my dad did something wrong that day. That instead of trying to save himself and me, he should have done the “Christian” thing. He should have tried to save the boy who had fallen.

But my father didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, in that moment, he emulated God so well that I will always remember it. He made me his priority.

And this is just like God does. God made each one of us His priority when He sent His Son to this earth to face the cross. By doing this, He showed us what love really is.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, New International Version (emphasis mine)

God always protects what’s His. And that’s what my dad has always done
for me.

My relationship with my dad isn’t perfect, but I’ve always known that he wants what’s best for me. He has a gentle, but strong, nature that has shielded me in hard times and comforted me when everything in life hurt. He’s always done his best to take care of me. He may have never gotten around to building that treehouse he had promised, but he was present at nearly all my track meets and cheered me on. He always told me I was a winner, even when I didn’t believe him. Because of him, it’s easier for me to believe that God loves me.

Fathers are very important in our lives, but unfortunately, many of them don’t stick around. Let’s cheer on the ones who do! Show some appreciation to the dads in your life this week and remember that God the Father loves you even more than your earthly dad ever could.

Written by Dena Williams.

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Free Indeed!

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; [32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:31-32

When the disciples asked Jesus about the end times and His return, the first thing Jesus did was bring a warning: “Take heed that ye be not deceived” (Luke 21:8). This warning was so important that the Holy Spirit impressed on the writers of two of the other Gospels to repeat it (Matt. 24:3-4 and Mark 13:3-5). The dangerous thing about deception is that the deceived person is not aware of their condition. They enter into deception and eventually become blinded to the truth. So, how can you protect yourself against deception?

Andrew says this in his teaching called The Word Became Flesh:

“Satan’s only power is deception, and once you know the truth … his power against you totally evaporates. He has no power to force you to do anything…. If we believe a lie­—­if we believe the wrong thing and submit to that wrong thing—then that gives Satan inroad into [our lives]…. The Word of God is absolute truth. Before Satan could get Eve to sin, he had to first of all take away her absolute submission to the authority of God’s Word. This is what Satan does to us…. He didn’t have power to force them to do anything…. He had to worm his way in, and he did it by attacking the Word of God. This is the reason that loving the Word of God [and] knowing the Word of God is so important.”

So, what do you believe? Because we actually submit to our beliefs, it’s important to understand and have faith in the truth alone.

Andrew continues,

“Jesus has set you free indeed, and yet you’re sitting there still languishing under the control and the dominance of the devil because you don’t know the truth. I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to help you and let you know that God has set you free. If you aren’t experiencing that freedom—whether it’s in your body, finances, emotions, whatever realm it is—it’s not God [keeping it from you].”

Andrew explains that you don’t need to pray and ask God to do something: “You need to find out what He’s already done and take your authority and release it.”

Don’t feel condemned if you are not walking in complete freedom in a certain area. Find out what the Word of God has to say, and make the truth more real to you on the inside than the situation itself. The Word of God has become flesh and is more powerful than anything you’re facing on this planet. The truth makes you “free indeed”—free from oppression, guilt, shame, deception, and anything else that has you bound (John 8:36)!

Gain insight into the nature of God, how His kingdom operates through you, and so much more. Watch the full teaching of The Word Became Flesh this week on the Gospel Truth broadcast with Andrew Wommack! You can also order this teaching in CD or DVD formats through the ministry’s online store.

If this blog struck a chord with you, please share a comment below.

Written by Aria Fischer.

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Changing Hearts at Home and Abroad

“And he [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Mark 16:15, brackets mine

Every year, Charis Bible College Colorado sends hundreds of second-year students around the world to preach the Gospel. And every year they return with testimonies of healings, salvations, and miracles. Perhaps the greatest testimonies are those of the students’ changed hearts and minds. Charis students who leave Colorado somewhat timid return emboldened. Those who leave quoting theory come home with revelation. And many who are seeking God for that “next step” return with vision.

This year has been no different.

Tim Mayes, a Charis Colorado student who went to Costa Rica, returned in awe of the way God changed his heart during his team’s trip. “Costa Rica was not my first choice,” Tim says. “I don’t even think it was my last choice, but I am fully aware that it was the correct choice for me.” During Tim’s trip, the Lord challenged him to do something with the wisdom and knowledge he had received from Charis. Tim describes what he heard the Holy Spirit say to him: “You have been given all of this. What are you going to do with it?” But then a short time later, Tim tells how the staff leader, Steve Bartlett, “pointed his footlong index finger [at me] and asked, ‘What are you going to do for the next twenty years that will count for eternity?’ This gets your attention, starts a person to thinking. Long story short, I’m headed back to Costa Rica this summer to work in the remote villages. Hallelujah!”

Another member of the team, Rosemary Goddard, shares her story:

“Some years ago…God spoke to me and told me I would be teaching and preaching…[and] would travel and ‘go places that no man would go.’ Not really understanding [that] phrase, I said, ‘Okay, Lord!’ In the city of Limón [Costa Rica], some of us were scheduled to go up to what we called ‘the church on the hill.’ The church was in an area where we had to walk up the hill to get to it. It would [mean] climbing muddy, rocky roads, so it was not possible for the bus to reach it…. Our leader, Pastor Douglas, told us that no teachers or pastors would come to this church and others like it because they did not want to walk. It is too hot. There is no air conditioning in the church. The roads are too muddy. It is rainy sometimes, and they do not get enough money for doing it. I rejoiced when God reminded me of His words many years ago. This was my first church for ‘going places no man [would] go,’ and for me, it [will] not [be] my last.”

Student Jon Rand says, “Each individual going on a [Charis] mission[s] trip comes back, I am confident, with different impressions of the experience they had.” He describes his own experience like this:

“Our team traveled deep into the rainforest to an indigenous tribal village of the Bribri people. Here, life is simple but hard. … Our group joined a Saturday, midafternoon church service. The congregation gathered under a black plastic tarp…. Seating was crude wooden benches and old, rusted, schoolroom chairs. … Through an interpreter, one [Charis] team member addressed the native Bribri people about simply asking God for what they’re believing in and then expecting it to happen. Near the end of the service, a local pastor shared that they [were] believing for a new church facility. I took them aside after the service to inquire what that would cost. As I headed down the path toward our waiting bus, God spoke to me about helping to build that church—providing them the funds. Upon returning, we have been busy putting together a plan—a way to channel the funds, monitor the project, and simply make it happen. God is quickly opening doors. That church building will soon become a reality! Praise His name!”

If you would like to help take the Gospel of Christ to the nations through the missions trips taken by Charis students, go to our
website: iamworldoutreach.com.

Please share a comment below if the testimonies from this Charis missions trip ministered to you.

(Note: Testimonies have been edited for length and clarity.)

- Roxanne Troup

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How Much Is Enough? Part Two

In part one, I shared my childhood experiences of getting caught up in religious traditions. For someone like me who grew up in church, those traditions—or sacred cows as Andrew calls them—became inevitable. Through wrong teaching and a “creative” big brother, I lived in fear of such things as being struck by lightning or facing the guillotine if my sins caught me in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I did eventually grow up—and grow out of those fears. Unfortunately, the religious traditions, or sacred cows, just took on new forms.

With those childhood fears behind me, I spent many adult years shedding “cleansing” tears at the altar of a church where emotions reigned. The thought that I had to get right and stay right was always present, particularly on those Sundays when I didn’t feel as much emotion as I “should.”

When my husband and I finally moved on, God led us to sit under some amazing Word-based teaching. We took copious notes, read our Bibles more than ever, and grew and grew. We learned to speak words of faith and to believe God for big things!

In our quest for God’s promises, we were hard workers. We had our confession routine down pat. We read chapter after chapter in our Bibles. We paid our tithes and gave offerings of money, jewelry, and time. All this was in a quest to move God to meet our needs.

Although much of what we were doing was good, we were missing a key point in all our doings. Andrew explains it like this: “We start tying God’s goodness and [the] demonstration of his power to our goodness. And the moment you do that, you negate the power of God, the goodness of God.” What he is referring to is found in Mark 7:13, where Jesus says the religious people were “making the word of God of no effect through [their] tradition” (New King James Version, brackets mine).

Works had become our new tradition, and we didn’t even realize it. We were starting to hear about the goodness of God, but only seeing it in parts—no matter how hard we worked.

In Monday’s post, I asked the question: What would be enough? And once again, Andrew has the perfect answer: “When you are trusting in your effort, you can never do enough. There could always be something more.”

Wow! That was certainly us. We could never seem to do enough.

God’s grace is transformative! And we are amazed at how our lives have changed since we discovered that God’s blessing is not wrapped up in what we do. None of what we do moves God.

So, what does move Him? Well, the truth is, He isn’t moved. All that He is ever going to do has already been done through Jesus! Jesus’ words“It is finished!” (John 19:30, NKJV) mean just that: It is finished! Ephesians 1:3 says that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (NKJV). “Has blessed” is past tense, which means it has already been done.

After years of spinning my wheels, I’ve finally let go of traditions and am truly discovering the goodness of God. It’s the good teaching of the Word that has turned my life around. There have been no lightning strikes or guillotine threats, only freedom and completeness in Him because He already did it all. Jesus is the One who did enough!

Andrew’s Encounter Grace Packagecontains a number of teachings that will help you let go of your own traditions and open your heart up to God’s goodness. We’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment for us!

- Jill M. Smith

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How Much Is Enough? Part One

“If we really understood the goodness of God without any religious baggage that held us back, I guarantee you, all of your problems would be over.”

Andrew Wommack

We called them pew races. My brother and I stood on a back pew, he said, “Go!” and we were off. The goal was to climb over each pew, reach the front of the church, and climb back. Our family lived across the street from our church, a building that was always unlocked. The purpose was for people to pray and seek solace any time of the day or night. It was a beautiful concept, provided kids weren’t playing inside at the time.

Regardless of our free rein of the sanctuary, there was one strict rule my brother taught me: never step behind the altar. The huge table was draped in a different-colored cloth based on the Christian season, and only the priest was qualified to walk behind this most holy object.

So, what would happen to a kid who walked behind the altar? Well, my brother told me that God would strike me down…with lightning. Really? Pew races were okay, but walking on the wrong side of a table would be my undoing? No matter how absurd this sounded, I still believed it.

That’s how religion is. It sets up rules and traditions, urges its followers to live by them, and then uses God as the punisher of the rulebreakers.

In Andrew’s teaching this week, Killing Sacred Cows, he refers to Mark 7:13:“Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition” ( New King James Version). He says, “It’s our religious traditions that make the statement…that God is a good God not have its full effect [in our lives].” He says this series is “about countering these religious concepts that void [and] negate the power of God.”

During my pew-racing days, I also attended events at another church. I “got saved” every night at a kids’ crusade. I also tried to read through my King James Bible and felt guilty over my failure to even finish Genesis. After watching a series of ‘70s-era end-times movies, I began to fear the guillotine. Lightning strikes, the guillotine—would these be my fate if I messed up? The idea that I must “get right, stay right—or else” was drilled into me. And whatever I did, it would never be enough.

But what would be enough? Andrew’s current television series will help answer this question.

If you haven’t been watching Gospel Truth this month, I encourage you to go back and watch the Killing Sacred Cows series from the beginning. In it, Andrew touches on many of his powerful teachings, such as Living in the Balance of Grace & Faith and The True Nature of God, and he’ll continue the series through the end of May. And check out our blog this Thursday for the conclusion of this story.

In the comments section below, feel free to share your own memories of how God’s grace set you free from religious traditions.

- Jill M. Smith

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Reflection of the Real Me

“What can I do for you, ma’am?”

There was that word again. Ma’am. I’d been hearing it a lot lately. Yes, ma’am. Good morning, ma’am. You’re welcome, ma’am. Although the people saying it are simply being polite, it’s serving as a subtle reminder that I’m not twenty anymore—as if I needed reminding.

Thank goodness, the image I’m seeing in the mirror is not a reflection of the real me. That’s because the real me is a spirit and cannot be seen in a physical mirror. After all, God is a Spirit (John 4:24), and since He created me in His image and after His own kind, I am a spirit too.

I find out what my spirit looks like by gazing into the spiritual mirror, God’s Word. It’s in God’s mirror that I see my spiritual reflection, which looks exactly like God—righteous, holy, pure, without deficit, and full of raising-from-the-dead power.

The problem is, I’m not just a spirit. I have a soul (made up of my mind, will, and emotions) and a body. Unlike my spirit, which is as complete as God’s spirit, my soul and body are in process and always need improvement.

Although I currently have to live in a corrupted body, I’ll one day trade it in for an updated, glorified model. Thank You, Jesus! But I can do something about the state of my mind—part of my soul—right now. In fact, I am commanded to do so in Romans 12:2:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind [by thinking like God thinks], that ye may prove [manifest] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

Brackets mine

In his book Spirit, Soul & Body, Andrew says,

“It’s your mind, your thoughts, your attitudes that determine whether you experience victory and the life of God [that’s] in your spirit or the defeat and death of the fallen natural realm. Renewing your mind to the Word facilitates your transformation.” (pp. 20-21, brackets mine)

In other words, there’s only one reason that we don’t experience God’s kind of life right here, right now:

Because we don’t think like God thinks.

That’s it.

I’ve had a chronic health issue for several years. Though I have been standing on God’s Word for my healing, I haven’t yet seen the manifestation. Sitting in class one day at Charis, I heard the Holy Spirit speak this to my heart:

Daddy says He’s healed you, and you don’t have to be sick.

I thought, How awesome is that?! I don’t have to be sick!

But wait a minute. If I don’t have to be sick, then why am I
experiencing sickness?

The answer is pretty simple: Regarding my health, I’m not thinking like
God thinks.

Thankfully, I don’t have to wait until I get to heaven to experience healing, victory, and the life of God. As I spend time gazing into God’s mirror and letting His thoughts dominate mine, I can experience heaven on earth!

Understanding spirit, soul, and body is critically important to every believer and unlocks the treasure chest of God’s grace. Through Andrew’s Spirit, Soul & Body teaching, you’ll learn to see yourself the way God sees you, what happened when you were born again, and much more. This foundational teaching comes in a variety of formats, and the book is now available in eight languages! Learn about all these products, including the audiobook, read by Jamie Wommack. Check them out today.

If this has blessed you, please comment below.

The Power of Motherhood

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I always hated that question—for many reasons. But mostly because every time it was asked of me, no one wanted to hear my answer:

“I want to be a mom.”

“No. What do you really want to be?”

As a young person, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t really want to be a mom. What was so wrong with motherhood? What was wrong with wanting to be present in the lives of the children I helped bring into the world? True, it was the eighties, but seriously, if society was going to teach girls that they could be anything they wanted to be but then restrict their choices to something nontraditional, well, it sounded pretty hypocritical.

End rant.

I know that the adults in my life who asked that question meant well, but their concept of “empowering girls” had an opposite effect on this girl. I did not feel empowered to pursue my calling—even in the church. I walked away from those conversations with the mistaken idea that only “groundbreaking” endeavors were worth pursuing. So, I struggled through my teen years looking for another “good use” of the skills God had given me.

It took me a long time to see motherhood—and the building of a godly legacy—in the same light that God saw it. Yet I think mothering is an innate desire within nearly every woman. It was in Hannah from the Bible.

The book of Samuel gives us the story of Israel’s first prophet. Samuel was born during a time of apostasy, when “the word of the Lord was rare” (1 Sam. 3:1, New King James Version). He served Israel as both prophet and priest, directing the nation to revival. He was also Israel’s last judge. But Samuel wasn’t born of a noble family. He wasn’t born into leadership, into the priesthood. Samuel was born of “a certain man” and a barren woman (1 Sam. 1:1-2, NKJV).

Every year, Samuel’s mother would accompany her husband to Shiloh to worship God and offer sacrifices. And every year, she pleaded with the Lord for a child. She asked Him to give her a son. She then promised that she would give him to the Lord “all the days of his life” (1 Sam. 1:11, NKJV).

All the days of his life? What kind of woman could make such a promise? What kind of woman could guarantee her child would belong to the Lord even after he was grown?

The kind who understands the power of motherhood.

Andy Stanley once said, “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise.” I love that. The world may never hear of me. It rarely hears of women like Morrow Graham, Nancy Edison, or Alberta Williams King. (Just read their last names and you’ll know who they are.) Yet look at the impact these women have had through their children—just in our lifetime! Billy Graham said, “Of all the people I have ever known, she [my mother] had the greatest influence on me.” Thomas Edison said, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me: and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”

Again, the world may never hear of me. And that’s all right. But what kind of legacy am I leaving behind? Who am I raising? What will their influence be? That is the power of motherhood. That is my calling.

This Mother’s Day, remember the gift of motherhood. Think of who may have influenced you and then think of those you are influencing. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below.