The Love of a Mother

SOURCE:  http://www.proclaimsermons.com/illustration.asp

KEYWORD:  help, busy, care, silence, love

  An exhausted young mother dragged herself to the telephone when it rang and listened with relief to the kindly voice on the other end. “How are you, Sweetheart? What kind of day are you having?”

  “Oh, Mother,” said the woman, “I’m having such a bad day. The baby won’t eat, the washing machine broke down, the house is a mess, we’re having two couples over for dinner tonight and I haven’t had a chance to go shopping yet. And to top it off, I just sprained my ankle.”

  The mother was overwhelmed with sympathy. “Oh, Honey,” she said, “sit down, relax and just close your eyes. I’ll be over in half an hour. I’ll do the shopping, clean the house and cook your dinner for you. I’ll feed the baby, and I’ll call a repairman to fix the washing machine. Now stop crying. I’ll do everything. In fact, I’ll even call Sean at the office and ask him to come home and help out.”

  “Sean?” said the housewife. “Who’s Sean?”

  “Why, Sean, your husband, of course!”

  “You mean Jim, don’t you? You’ll call Jim at the store.”

  “Isn’t this Julie?”

  “Sean? ”No, it’s Tiffany.”

  “Oh,” said the kindly person, “I must have dialed the wrong number. I’m sorry.”

  There was a long silence. Then the desperate young homemaker asked, “Does this mean you’re not coming over?”