As any fool knows, family and faith are the stuff that hold humanity's existence together. That's why Mother's Day is so special for Americans. Because it combines the two most important ingredients of that formula mom, and because Mother's Day always happens on Sunday, religion.

In my close family we are fortunate enough to have four successful moms in different stages of momhood from great grandmother, to grandmother, to young mom. Between them they have experienced and overcome just about every difficulty life can throw at a women. Divorce, adultery, the death of a young child, miscarriages, financial problems, and a host of other plagues.

They come from different kinds of family experiences ranging from loving Christian homes to families so dysfunctional they would have been better off orphaned. That they have not only all survived but so far succeeded as mothers is do, I think, to several things they hold in common. First among those is a faith in God that has sustained them through difficult times. Second is a love for their children that has always far outweighed their own wellbeing. And third, they have benefited from the support of extended family. If not the one they were born into than other families whose faith was large enough to include others with a loving embrace.

None of our moms are barefoot in the kitchen types. All have college educations, three are nurses and one a teacher. The have held leadership positions in church and on the job. While the males in our family have a reputation for being somewhat overbearing and difficult to deal with, it's the moms who have always really ruled.

In the peace church tradition I have discovered as a son, husband, and pastor, that it's the women who are the soldiers. No, they have no understanding of how a mom could carry a gun into war as some women do these days. Leaving their families behind. Peace church moms fight their wars within the confines of their communities and families against a society that threatens the spiritual wellbeing of their loved ones. And their weapons are usually patience, wisdom, understanding, and when called for, an ability to discipline that would make any drill sergeant proud.

Today great grandma will spend Mothers Day in Bakersfield, California, at church and with my brother's brood that includes two college students, one to be married this summer, and two high school students. Equally divided between male and female. My children's mom will spend Mothers Day up in Northern Indiana visiting our youngest, now adult, daughter. While I will soon be on my way to Silver Springs Park to spend the day with our oldest daughter, grandson two years old, grandson one month old, and my teenage high school son.

The best thing about Mother's Day is that dad's get to enjoy the fruits of mom's work!