In recognition of the special place Mother's Day holds in the Vineyard, Jonathan brought a message reflecting on the way in which motherhood has been central to the way God’s promise has makes its way through "the crooked course of history." Surveying the grand narrative of the Bible, Jonathan showed how at the great turning points in the drama of salvation, we find "a woman pregnant and an infant child bring brought into the world by the powerful promise of God" (Myers) God values mothers. Indeed, he himself was pleased to be nourished and sustained by a woman and to cast himself completely into the care of Mary. This clearly shows God’s value for pregnancy and motherhood. At the same time, Jonathan points out that we can also over-inflate the importance of motherhood and treat it as a kind of idol, as the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar potently illustrates.To those who are mothers, we hope the day brought encouragement. To those who are not or can not be mothers, we hope the day brought a reminder that you belong to God's strong and eternal family and have inherited sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and brothers and sisters too numerous to count. And to those who have lost their mother, we hope the day gave you space to remember.