We celebrated Mother’s Day Sunday. It is always one of the largest attended Sundays in most churches.

I enjoyed the crowd, and then I spent the afternoon with the mother of my two sons. My mother has been gone now for 11 years. Her mother lives with us, but is visiting with her daughter in Florida. Both of our sons live out of town.

Mother’s Day is a special day that we have set aside to honor those who gave birth to us and, in most cases, sacrificed much for our good. I know I was blessed in more ways than I deserve. Mom sacrificed so much so that I might have more than she had. From the earliest days when she taught me how to read, to the times when she threw batting practice to me, to the final days of her life, she meant so much to me.

I can never forget the smile on her face the day I graduated from Shorter College. I was the first from both sides of my family to graduate from college. Three years later, I received my master’s degree, and she was there again. And then 15 years passed before I completed doctoral work at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Again, she was first in line to hug me and congratulate me.

She also did her part to humble me. "Congratulations, Brad," she whispered in my ear. Jokingly I said, "That’s Dr. Butler now," with a big grin on my face. She cut me no slack. "Boy, I changed your diapers. Don’t you Dr. Butler me."

I put her in a bear hug, and we both laughed until we cried.

What I wouldn’t give to walk into her kitchen and see a homemade banana pudding with meringue on top. I miss her so much. And yet I live in hope.

Paul reminded the Christians who lived in Thessalonica that the resurrection of Jesus was a guarantee that followers of Jesus would also be raised from the dead. And he closed out his argument for that with these words: "Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

The Bible is clear on this issue. We live in hope. The future holds more and better than we have ever experienced here on Earth. We believe that God will keep his promises to us. We count on him and look to that glorious future. I pray that we will all be ready.