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Mothers are special people, designed by God to excel in nurturing. This is abundantly clear in the Bible. Let’s go back to the beginning to see this divine design.

God made Eve from a rib taken from Adam’s side. (See Genesis 2:21-22.) When God brought Eve to her husband, Adam called her “woman” because she was taken out of man. Adam saw his wife as part of himself – bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. (See Genesis 2:23.) At the same time, Eve was not another man. She was a woman endowed with the nature to nurture.

Adam named his wife “Eve” because she was the mother of all living humans. (See Genesis 3:20.) Eve was a helper comparable to Adam. She was his counterbalance and well-suited to help Adam. As you recall, it was not good for him to be alone. (See Genesis 2:18.) Eve was not inferior to Adam in any way. She would become a mother because she had the physical attributes to conceive and carry a child. She would bond with her baby as she fed him from her own body. Eve was created with the nature to nurture her child as only a mother can. Mother and nurture go together.

The Bible instructs women to cultivate their nurturing nature. A godly mother feeds and cares for her children, guides the home, is industrious in the home, comforts her children, and raises her children well. (See 1 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 Timothy 5:14; Titus 2:5; Isaiah 66:13; 1 Timothy 5:10.) When a mother embraces her nurturing nature by devoting herself to her family, her children will rise up and call her blessed. (See Proverbs 31:28.)

I’ve witnessed this nurturing nature in the past few years in our own family. My wife and I raised three sons and no daughters. Our first two grandchildren were boys. Then, there was Zara. From early in her life, she loved babies and showed amazing care and tenderness for her dolls as well as other little humans like her

baby cousin, Hadley. When Hadley cries, Zara instinctively runs over to her, gently strokes her face and says, “It’s OK, ‘Hadawe.’” Hadley’s Mom, Aunt Brooke, starts to quiz Zara.

Brooke: “Why do you think she’s crying?” Zara: “Maybe she’s hungry.” Brooke: “What else could it be?” Zara: “She may need her diaper changed.” Brooke: “What else could it be?” Zara: “She may be tired.”

Lincoln, on the other hand, just wants to know how to turn that crying cousin “off.” Everyone who has watched Zara with her Papa – me – knows that she has me wrapped around her little heart. All mushiness aside, I’ve watched Zara show a special kind of care and affection that I have not observed in any of our boys. And she is only three! Although my experience is certainly not scientific, it fits the biblical model of how God made women.

To our precious mothers, let me encourage you to embrace your nurturing nature as a gift from God. Do not accept the condescending criticisms of those who demean or devalue you for being feminine and a nurturer. Do not be ashamed of your nature. In fact, cultivate your God-given nurturing nature to its fullest. Resist the trend of women in our world who revolt against or deny their nature. (See Romans 1:26; Isaiah 49:15.) The world needs more love and tenderness. We need more compassion and kindness. We need the nurture that naturally flows from mothers.

This Mother’s Day, please take time to celebrate and honor moms. Too often, their job feels thankless. We pause to thank every godly mother for being God’s gift to our children and the world. What would we do without mother nurture?

MESSENGER | MAY 2020

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15Cynthia WashingtonAva JuryDon CamdenEmory HardigreeLucas LopezDesmond Domingo16 Patrick MillerMarie BrandonKaitlyn BarnettDanielle BoulouteDamaris SandovalAshley Young18Flora AppiahVanessa Arbelaez19Tori BillupsJennifer PomerinkeNigel WatsonBrenda Richie20 Debbie MillerWesley FlowersDevin Sanders21Shawn WhitenerTyler Hardin22Grant CrabtreeSophia PlunkettBrittany CrawfordApril MarionaKindo Wafer23Gloria SimmonsGarrison FloydJamesyn ScottRichard LaPradeChristie Hanson24Noah BarkerAnna DouglasSylvia Domingo25Silas Watson

May Birthdays2Sharon Allen-HoustonBernice Marquina3Nathan RowlandSis. Carol JohnsGlenda Hawthorne4Renee SeeneyMaseo Jones5Frank EllisRoni ColbertMark-Anthony PhillipsCarmen Bryan6Jimmy Townsend IITajena SeeneyAramis Harper7Becky JohnsonDavid ShumanDaniel Manley9Ellie NeumannMichelle BonePuemanu GuerrieriDarrell HicksJordan Byrd10Tara CrabtreeStephanie Cruz11Bro. David JuryBro. Zach Davie12Velma HypoliteAllison ArbelaezElijah PomerinkeJudah Turner14Bro. Stan ManleyMaddox RobinsonGary Floyd, Sr.Christy Shuman

2 Brad & Debra Sartin5 Zach & Monica Blish8 Larry & Carol Saylor9 Roy & Morvia Austin11 Bryant & Trisha Bransford11 Josh & Becca Austin14 Jimmy & Mary Duncan14 William & Cynthia Hampton15 Corky & Sharon Rosser15 Justin & Nicole Jones15 Desmond & Sylvia Domingo18 Nathan & Rebecca Pemberton18 Jim & Shelly Gill19 Nathaniel & Ellayna Roberts20 Asher & Victoria Jones20 Jerome & Tammy Willis21 Tobias & Elsie Onuoha21 Evan & Sandra Shand23 Chris & Jackie Melton26 David & Jennifer Nickens31 Rickey & Wendy Barker

May Anniversaries26LaShawna ScottLance GilmorePernell BrickeyReese KeyserCameron WhiteIsaac Hudgens27Gary RadfordAngela StewartMiguel Arbelaez Sr.Frances WlehRegina Dowell28Tamara StoreyOlivia HernandezMarty GraysonBronson Jury29Terri ScottBenjamin PhillipsHannah MarionaSydney PhillipsShawna GilmoreLincoln Johns30Bro. Brad FainSandy WalkerBeverly ColeMarion ScottDyneice KingKathryn Esuzor31Edith FloydRob CannonAlexavier DowellSarah Mariona

March 28 - April 24

David Charles CheekKaycee Goodall

Brandon GoodingRamatu SheriffZainab WoodsHenry Zheng

Baptized in Jesus’ Name

Ramatu SheriffZainab Woods

Filled with the Holy Ghost

MAY 2020 |MESSENGER

ATLANTA WEST PENTECOSTAL CHURCH2960 SKYVIEW DRIVELITHIA SPRINGS, GA 30122770-944-3522 • WWW.AWPC.ORG

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2

3Missions Sunday

10 am Online Worship Service

Sis. Carol Johns’ Birthday

4 57 pm 301

Meeting Online

67:30 pm Online Worship Service

7National Day

of Prayer

8 9

10Mother’s Day

10 am Online Worship Service

11 12 137:30 pm Online Worship Service

14 15 16

1710 am Online

Worship Service

18 19 207:30 pm Online Worship Service

21 22 23

2410 am Online

Worship Service

25Memorial Day

MemorialDay PicnicCancelled

26 277:30 pm Online Worship Service

28 29 30

31Pentecost

Sunday

10 am Online

MAY 2020

DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK, ALL EVENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Prayer & Fasting