Good morning, and Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers and mother-figures in our fellowship of faith. On this special day, we would like to thank all of you who shape our lives and build our families and serve as our safe place as we go out into the world. Mothers have a unique power to influence their children no matter how old those children get.

Phil Keith, the former police chief of Knoxville, Tennessee, tells of receiving a call from his mother while he was in the middle of a televised press conference. Keith knew his mother wouldn’t call him under those circumstances unless something was seriously wrong, so he excused himself from the press conference to answer the phone.

When his mother picked up the phone, she said, “Phil Keith, are you chewing gum?”

He said, “Um, yes, ma’am.”…