Christian Mother's Day Gifts for the Mother Who Is Still Praying
The best Christian Mother's Day gift is chosen for the mother she actually is, not for mothers in general. Most lists offer the same bracelet, mug and devotional to everyone. A mother praying for a grown child who has wandered needs something different from a mother of three under five who has not sat down since breakfast.
So this guide is organised by her: the mother who is still praying, the mother who is up before everyone, and the mother who never stops. Six scripture pieces, and a note on dates, because Mother's Day falls in May in the United States and Mothering Sunday falls in Lent in the United Kingdom.
Choose for the mother she is
- The praying mother Luke 15. Three stories of something lost and looked for, the chapter mothers of wandering children know by heart.
- The early riser While It Was Yet Dark. For the one awake first, before the house is.
- The one who never sits Mary Sat at His Feet. Permission, from scripture, to put the tea towel down.
- Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday May in the United States, the fourth Sunday of Lent in the United Kingdom. Order early for either.
I have found my sheep, for the mother still looking
The shepherd leaves the ninety and nine to go after the one, and when he finds it he calls his friends: "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15:6).
For a mother whose child has walked away from faith, or from the family, this is a gift that does not pretend otherwise. It is a picture of someone who keeps looking, which is what she has been doing all along.
He ran to meet him, for the mother watching the road
"But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran" (Luke 15:20). The father saw him first because he had been watching.
It suits a hallway, the wall by the door a mother still glances at. For a grown child who has come home, it is also one of the most moving things a son or daughter can give her.
Rejoice with me, for the mother who found what was lost
Before the shepherd calls his friends, "he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing" (Luke 15:5). The finding comes before the party, carried home the whole way.
For a mother whose child has come back, from illness, from a hard year, from a long silence, this is the piece that marks it. Give it when there is something to rejoice over together.
While it was yet dark, for the one up before everyone
Mary Magdalene went to the tomb "early, when it was yet dark" (John 20:1), and so became the first to hear the news of Easter.
Every family has a mother who is up first, praying or packing lunches before anyone else stirs. This is a piece for her, and for the quiet hour that is hers alone.
Mary sat at his feet, for the mother who never stops
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part" (Luke 10:41 to 42).
It is not a scolding. It is an invitation, and it is the gift for a mother who has spent years as Martha. Hang it by the chair she never sits in.
A well of water, for the young mother running on empty
"A well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14) was offered to a woman in the middle of an ordinary chore, carrying water at midday.
For a mother of small children, whose days are made of ordinary chores, this is a picture of being filled up rather than emptied out. It suits the kitchen, where most of her day happens.
Bible verses for a Mother's Day card
"Her children arise up, and call her blessed" (Proverbs 31:28) is the classic, and it is classic for a reason. Isaiah 66:13, "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you," is the verse where God compares himself to a mother.
For a card, one specific memory still beats any verse: the thing she did that nobody else noticed. If you are also shopping for a new mother this year, we wrote a separate guide to Christian gifts for a new mom.
The six pieces in this guide
What people ask before Mother's Day
1.What is a meaningful Christian Mother's Day gift?
2.When is Mother's Day in the UK and the US?
3.What Bible verse is good for a Mother's Day card?
4.What do you give a Christian mother who has everything?
Every piece, room by room
Choose the wall she walks past most, and the size is already worked out.
