WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:04.480 Welcome to Christ Redeemer Church, everyone. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:16.239 What we like to say here every week is that we are more broken than we originally thought, but we are more loved by God in Jesus than we dare to dream. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:20.480 My name is Jill Kirschner and I'm married to Steve. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.519 I've been a member of this church for nearly 10 years. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.960 It's gone so fast. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.199 I also wanted to say today, though, it's a very, very special day. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:30.960 Happy Mother's Day. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.799 Hand up if you're a mum this morning. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.880 Well, not a mum just this morning. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.320 You've been a mum maybe since this morning, but forever. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.159 Or you might be a grandmother either. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:41.119 I'm Grammy. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:47.280 I'm trying to upgrade to glammy, but my grandchildren don't seem to want to grab hold of that. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:55.280 If you are, though, after the service, as you head out the door, just on this side behind the door, there's a gift for you from the church. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:59.200 All sorts of little fragrances, different smells, and so on. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:01.359 So please grab that. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:10.319 I also wanted to acknowledge, though, that this can be a difficult time of year, a difficult day for some women, for some mums. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:14.400 Perhaps you're struggling because you've got a child that's struggling. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:18.079 If a child struggles, of course the mum's going to struggle too. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.480 Perhaps you've lost a child. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.840 Perhaps you've lost your mum in the last year or so. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.400 I lost mum a couple of years ago. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:33.040 And then lastly, perhaps you're struggling to get pregnant or you know that it's not likely to happen. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:40.239 I pray that you can find some comfort and peace today, and that this day is not too difficult. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.719 I want to tell you a couple of stories about me being a mum. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.760 And these stories will come out of Australia, okay? 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.040 They're not recent. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:55.840 But I will say this motherhood is filled with all sorts of emotions. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:59.840 Inadequacy, life's out of control. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.480 Then there's awe and wonder after a whole lot of pain. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.240 Yeah, let's admit it, having a baby is like pushing out a huge basketball. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:14.960 But after that, it's like you look at this child and you're like, wow, God, this is absolutely amazing. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.719 But then there's also times when we have fear, we have pain. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:28.479 There's all sorts of emotions that goes along with our faith in Christ that try to knock us out of the race. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:30.960 So I'm going to show you my first story. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:38.319 And firstly, I want you to know this story is a secret between you and me. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:40.639 Okay, no one else is allowed to know. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:45.680 In fact, I don't think even my husband knows these stories, so please don't tell him. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:46.639 He's over there. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.319 Someone put your hands over his ears so he can't hear it. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:51.919 These are totally secret. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.400 In fact, the son that I'm talking about, you know, I don't think he knows yet, so I suppose I should tell him at some stage. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.000 Anyway, I had two boys. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.919 The first one was just two to three months of age, and I was so excited. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:05.840 I love being a mum. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:18.960 Well, he woke for his night feed, and I went to change his nappy, his cloth nappy, because that's what we used, and took his old one off, went to put the new one on. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:26.080 And of course, if you've ever changed a cloth nappy, particularly if you're from my era, it comes with a great big pin. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.039 Okay, you've got to hold that thing on somehow. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:40.319 And so I'm putting it around him, and we've been instructed to put our hand between his bits, you know, like boys' bits, okay. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:42.719 And the cloth, okay. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:51.280 So I'm got my hand down there and trying really hard and the pins struggling to get it through, and pricked myself, took my hand out. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.240 Well, you then know what happened, okay? 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:58.400 It's like, oh my gosh, I'd got his pee pee. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:05.840 Well, of course, he reacted, okay, and I was just hysterical. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:25.519 I thought I'd maimed him for life, I thought that I was going to get arrested for sexual abuse, I thought I'd ruined his manhood forever, and so I grip my husband, and in the car we get, and off we go, zooming up to the emergency room through all the red lights and everything else, and take my little boy into emergency. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:34.079 Well, of course, we get to see the doctor first because they've got an hysterical Australian woman and this little baby, a newborn, that's crying. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:36.639 The doctor's examining him. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.519 I'm waiting for the police to arrive. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:46.959 And he looks at me, the doctor looks at me, and he he just starts laughing. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.639 Now I can laugh now, but he just starts laughing. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:52.160 It's like, it's fine. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:54.800 You know, I was worried they're gonna have to amputate. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:56.319 I just didn't know where I was gonna. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.519 And how was I gonna explain this to my son later on? 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:06.079 It's fine, just take him home, a little bit of cream, it'll be okay, keep your eye on it, worry, go back to the doctor. 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:08.240 All was fine. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.120 I haven't had to explain to him why he's mame for life. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:16.000 He's now pregnant, well, not him, his wife's now pregnant with number four, everything's working fine. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:25.279 But the humiliation, the embarrassment, the failure I felt as a mum, and then having to tell people about it. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:28.319 Let's fast forward a few years. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.040 My boys are just 17 months apart. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:42.720 My husband and I decided that we were gonna start a ministry called World Evangelism. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:52.079 If you know anything about visions with ministry, it's like we had a huge vision, but we only visited three countries. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:06:03.600 And so, this ministry we were going to start churches, we were gonna start orphanages, we were gonna start uh food distribution, fostering children, and so on. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:08.240 What a grand idea! The only thing is that the pay wasn't great. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:16.639 You know, when you went there, I remember speaking at a women's conference, and my payment for doing the session was a piglet wrapped in a banana skin. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:21.839 Well, I couldn't even take that back to Australia, let alone pay a house note or anything. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:28.160 And so we sold our house back in Australia and put the money into the ministry. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:33.040 My husband went away on another missions trip and he says, Can you find us somewhere to live? 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:34.879 The house is about to close. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:39.120 So I visit some friends and say, Can I borrow your school bus? 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:41.439 Not a Winnebago, a school bus. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.279 We need somewhere to live. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:45.920 And so the boys and I moved into the school bus. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.480 It was sort of okay for a couple of days. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:50.720 Well, that really wasn't very adequate. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.639 Anyone stayed in a school bus for a while? 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:54.480 It's really not really not fun. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:04.079 Well, then, and I felt this was answered prayer, I found this old house that was built in 1900. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:09.040 The owners wanted to get rid of it to build a nicer house. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:11.040 I thought there was nothing wrong with this house. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:14.240 And so I got it cut in half. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:20.720 I don't know what you call those people who cut houses in half, but a house cutter in half are. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:22.879 I found a company that did that. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:24.639 They cut it in half. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.319 We'll put the pictures on the screen so you can see I'm not lying. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:36.480 And we trucked it into my parents' backyard who lived in a middle to upper class neighborhood. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:43.279 And you know, I think they were okay because they wanted to make sure their daughter was okay, but I don't really know what the neighbors said. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.199 In fact, I didn't ask them. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.480 But that's what we lived in, and you know, I just thought it was amazing. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:52.319 We put it together, there it is, there, my boys are looking happy. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:08:01.600 But we lived there for five years, and as much as I look back now, and I know I was crazy, okay? 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:02.879 I know I was crazy. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:04.800 There's so many of these stories. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.279 There was a lot of anxiety and worry. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:11.759 We had no power or water for six months. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:15.199 So we had mum's garden hose coming through the kitchen window. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:19.360 We had extension cords coming up to the house to try and have some power. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.279 We regularly blew their power. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.279 We had a ladder for front steps before we had proper front steps. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:31.680 I worried because how do the boys really feel about this? 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:41.120 How are they gonna grow up having grown up in a very different circumstance in the middle of Australia where everyone else had normal houses? 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.679 But it all turned out fine. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.759 Today, as a Grammy, there's still so many emotions. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.919 When your kids leave home, you don't stop being concerned. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:00.240 You know, recently, my youngest son, who has a church in LA, he was evacuated due to the fires. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:02.240 And that was heartbreaking. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:07.200 A lot of the people in his church lost their homes and ended up staying in his church. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.200 And yet during this time, they put together a food and goods program for those that had lost everything. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:20.159 But then on the other side of it, just a couple of weeks ago, I was out in LA pointing out my granddaughter to everyone. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:21.279 Isn't she wonderful? 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.159 She was in her first dance recital. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:27.919 Her turnout was horrific, you know, feet turned in like this. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.320 But it was just the most wonderful thing ever. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:32.159 Oh, wonder, pride. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:42.559 I found a scripture that I think describes me, and it may describe you, because we go through so much as mums because we love so deeply. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:50.720 The scripture is my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:59.759 So, in other words, despite my emotional roller coaster, I feel that God wove his way all through my life. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:01.840 Let's pray. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.320 Lord, thank you for the gift of motherhood. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.159 May our mums feel loved, blessed, and honored today. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.679 That they know your peace that passes all understanding. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:16.240 Father, we pray too for mums and women that are facing difficult times. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:22.559 Give them hope, courage, and strength, and let them find comfort in your love and guidance. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:31.679 I pray for Russ as he teaches us that you speak through him and that we as a congregation open our hearts and minds to his message. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:34.399 We ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:35.279 Amen.