It's never too late to be Lois and Eunice to your Timothy. This grandmother had spiritual influence worth recording in the record of God's word. So did this mother. So can we all.

If you don't have a child, find a Timothy anyway. Ask God for someone you can mentor, some soul you can help to mold, someone to pray for, someone whose eternal destiny you can help shape.

And whether you have a child or not, you have a mother. To the degree you can, honor her today.

And as you honor your mother, worship your Father. Trust in Jesus as Lord; live fully and passionately for him; and you will bring the greatest honor to your mother it is in your power to give.

Hear Temple Bailey's famous essay:

"The Young Mother set her foot on the path of life. 'Is the way long?' she asked. And her guide said: 'Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning.' But the Young Mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years.

"So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and life was good, and the Young Mother said, 'Nothing will ever be lovelier than this!'

"Then night came, and storms, and the path was dark, and her children shook with fear and cold, and the Mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and her children said, 'Oh, Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and we know no harm can come,' and the Mother said, 'This is better than the brightness of the day, for I have taught my children courage.'

"And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the Mother was weary, but she said to her children, 'A little patience, and we are there.' So the children climbed, and when they reached the top, they said, 'We could not have done it without you, Mother.' And the Mother, when she lay down that night, looked up at the stars and said, 'This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today I have given them strength.'

"And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the whole earth—clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the Mother said, 'Look up. Lift your eyes to the light.' And the children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them and brought them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, 'This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God.'

"And the days went on, and the weeks went on, and the years went on, and the Mother grew old, and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was hard, they helped their Mother; and when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill; and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.

"And the Mother said, 'I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them.' And the children said, 'You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.' And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her."

The children were right: she will always walk with them. All mothers do.