Honor Your Mother

I'd like to welcome all of our guests. As I mentioned, we have special guests here. Sir Tom Toussaint, which we knew in college, and his wife. So it was good to see them and that they can be here with us. I believe they're in the area to visit for Mother's Day, so it's a great opportunity. Speaking of Mother's Day, tomorrow is Mother's Day. How many of you still have your mothers alive? Can we see your hands? A few of us. Obviously, the rest of us have our mothers are not alive.

Now, I see a few siblings sitting around here with their mothers, and that's great. For those of you whose mothers are not alive, if you had your mother again, what would you say to her? How would you treat her? How would you approach her? Would you do anything any different than you did in the past? I've mentioned a story before I'd like to reiterate it because I think it illustrates what I'm talking about here. A gentleman mentioned that he and his wife had been married 20-something years, and one day she came to him and said, I want you to take another woman out to dinner into a movie to have a date with her.

She said, I love you, but I think you also love this other woman. The other woman that his wife wanted him to take out on a date was his mother, and he had never thought of it from that perspective. She had been a widow for 19 years, and his work and all of the demands that work had placed on him, three children, marriage, a family, he only got to see her occasionally. So he called her up and invited her out to dinner in a movie.

Her initial reply was, what's wrong? Are you okay? Because what he never called, and for him to invite her out, maybe he was going to drop a bombshell on her, some bad news that he had. He said, well, I thought it would just be pleasant to spend some time with you and be able to see you, and just the two of us. She thought about it for a while and said, I think that would be nice. And so she decided that she would do it. Friday came around, he went over, picked her up, they went to a restaurant, it wasn't a real fancy place, but it was a very nice place.

She was all dressed up, had her hair curled, wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. And she had a smile from ear to ear. Said she had told all of her friends what her son was going to do for her. And they just said, well, you know, you're blessed. They can't wait to hear about our meeting, she said.

They went to the restaurant, they ate. In fact, he said that because of his mother's poor eyesight, he had to read the menu to her. And said, she just sat there and grinned and said, well, you know, there was a time when I had to read the menu to you, and now you're reading it to me. And they got to talking, nothing really important, small talk, called up with each other what they were doing. But they talked so long that they didn't have time to go to the movie.

So when he got home, his wife asked him, how was your date? Your dinner date? And he said it was much better than you can imagine. However, a few days later, his mother died of a massive heart attack, and she was there no more. A few days after that, he received an envelope in the mail. And it was a receipt to the restaurant where they had gone, paid in advance, saying that she would like to get together with him again, but that might not be possible.

And if not, then she had already paid for dinner for him and his wife. And he looked at that, and he said he understood the importance of a child, and of course to his mother, he was still her child, of saying, I love you, I appreciate you, I need you.

Those types of things. And that we give our loved ones the time that they really deserve. Because I think, as we all know, there's nothing more important than life than our families, and how we get along with our family. And we need to give them the time that they deserve. How many times do we not realize how important our mom and dad are to us until they're no longer around?

Enormous dad was in the process of dying here recently. It was something that we realized we could see him going down slowly but surely, week by week. And we realized he wasn't going to be around much longer. And it was something that, you know, my parents have died, her mom died when her mom was 49 from stomach cancer. But, you know, the fact that your last parent is gone is something that you think about.

If your mom is dead, would you like to look her in the eyes again, hold her hands, talk with her, ask her questions, seek her advice, find out about family history? Well, if you have a mom alive today, you know, there are a lot of questions. Norm and I have talked about, well, you know, what were my parents' first date? You know, how did they meet? You know, there are all kinds of questions that you can think of after a person is no longer around that you wish you had asked ahead of time, and many times you don't.

Now, we know in the future we'll have the opportunity to see them again in the resurrection, but again, we still would like to have them and hold them in this life. You know, if your mother is still alive, and it doesn't matter what your age is, if you're five years old, a teenager, a young adult, an older person, you do need to express your love, your appreciation, your affection for them, because one day they simply will not be here.

And when they're not here, you can always look back. I mean, we all have regrets. You know, we can all look back and say, well, I wish. We all need our parents. I want you to notice what some famous people said about their mothers. It says, My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I receive from her.

George Washington. Another president. There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness. The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with. On that capital, I have made my way. Andrew Jackson, U.S. president. And then, a mother is the truest friend we have when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us, when adversity takes the place of prosperity, when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us, when trouble thickens around us, till she will cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsel to dissipate the clouds of darkness and cause peace to return to our hearts.

Washington Irving. A number of famous people have paid tribute to their mothers, and I'm sure that every one of you could sit down and write a tribute to your own mother and how much you appreciated her. Let's go over to Matthew 19, verse 16. Matthew 19, verse 16. And I want you to notice that if you want eternal life, if you want to be in the kingdom of God and live forever, notice what you have to do.

Matthew 19, verse 16. Now behold, one came and said to him, good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said to him, why do you call me good?

No one is good, but one that is God. But if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. And he said to him, which? And Jesus said, you should not murder, you should not commit adultery, you should not steal, you should not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother.

So honoring your parents is part of what we have to do if we expect God to give us eternal life. So it is one of those requirements. I want you to notice probably the most outstanding example in the Bible of children who honored their parents. Let's go over to John 19, verse 25. John 19, verse 25. Jesus Christ was hanging on the stake. He was about to die. And verse 25, John 19.

And there stood by the cross of Jesus the mother. His mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, that's John, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. And then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour that disciple took her to his own house.

She had other children. List some of her family members here. And yet Christ, as he was dying, one of the last things he did was to tell John, look after my mother. And I think he knew that John would live. And that however long his mother would live, he would be there to help take care of her. Notice in Luke chapter 2 and verse 51. Luke 2, 51, we have the example of Jesus Christ as a young person. Verse 51, Then he went down with them, came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.

But his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with men. So Jesus Christ was subject to his parents. He obeyed them. He was not a rebel. And so he honored, and he was subject to his parents. I want you to notice a quote here. Many of you may not be familiar with Richard Burdon. He was a British War Secretary. Lord High Chancellor wrote a letter to his mother every day for 48 years.

48 years. Beginning in 1877, when his father died and continuing until 1925, when his mother passed on at the age of 100 years and six weeks, Lord Haldane never missed writing a letter to her a single day.

Now, that shows a tremendous amount of commitment. He obviously had a great deal of respect and love for his mother. Notice what one minister said about his mother. On Mother's Day, the minister gave a perfect tribute when he said, My mother practices what I preach.

So that, I think, is a good say. Marian Anderson, the great famous contralto, said this a few years ago. A reporter interviewed Ms. Anderson and asked her to name the greatest moment in her life. She knew that she'd had a lot of great moments. She had appeared in the White House saying for the Roosevelt's King, Queen of England. There was a night that she received a $10,000 book award as a person who'd done most for her home down in Philadelphia. But she told the reporter, The greatest moment in my life was the day I went home and told my mother that she wouldn't have to take in washing anymore. That she had made enough money that her mother wasn't going to have to be a washed lady. That she could take care of her. When we honor our parents, and we're talking about Mother's Day here in particular, it reflects back on God and his creation. If you remember back in Genesis 1, beginning in verse 26, Genesis 1.26, God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing.

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him male and female.

He created them. So God created the human race in his image, male and female. God created us as physical human beings and gave us physical life.

Now, I'm talking about Adam and Eve. He gave them physical life. Our parents give us physical life.

You have a father, you have a mother. If you're alive or have lived, you had to have a dad and a mom.

The human race did not exist prior to God creating man. We do not exist until our parents beget us. Then we are born of our mother. So every birth should remind us of what God has done from the very beginning in creating man. God, from the very beginning, expressed and revealed a family relationship to his children. When God married Adam and Eve, he said, a man shall leave his father and mother. They didn't have a father and mother, except God.

Cleaved to his wife, those two are to become one flesh. So God was revealing to them that when they had children, that eventually those children would leave, start their own unit, have their own family. Let's notice in Jeremiah 31 and verse 20.

Jeremiah 31 and we'll begin to read here in verse 20. What God says, and here he's referring to one of the tribes of Israel, says, Isephrium, my dear son, is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still. Therefore, my heart yearns for him.

I surely have mercy on him, says the Lord. So even though God had to punish Ephraim, still, he said, he's my dear son. And even though our children may disappoint us, they may not always do what we want. They may go in a different direction. Still, they are our dear children. We love them. And God loves us. And we know he's going to give everyone an opportunity for salvation. Notice back in Isaiah 66, beginning in verse 7. Isaiah 66 and verse 7. It says, Before she was in labor, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such a thing? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. On the day of the resurrection, there will be thousands, maybe millions, born into the very family of God. Now notice verse 12. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed on her side, shall you be carried, and be dangled on her knee, as one whom his mother comforts. So I will comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

So God, using the analogy of a loving mother, that God is going to comfort Zion and comfort Jerusalem in the peoples of Israel, just like a mother, comforts her child as she dangles on her knee. You might remember back in 2 Corinthians, I'll just refer to that, verses 17 and 18, we are called the sons and daughters of God. He is our Father, and we are his sons and daughters. So God has a family relationship. God is the Father, and he has sons and daughters.

But let's go over to Mark 7, verse 6. Mark 7, verse 6. I want you to notice the emphasis that Christ places upon honoring your parents, and which obviously includes your mother.

Mark 7, verse 6. He answered and said to them, Well did Isaiah the prophet prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the traditions of men, such as the washing of pitchers and cups, and many such things you do. And he said, All too well you reject the commandments of God, that you may keep your traditions. Now you find Paul writes quite frequently about the traditions in the Church, but these are traditions based upon God's law. Here he is talking about man-made traditions. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. And you say, If a man says to his father or mother, whatever prophet you may have received from me is Corbin. It's a gift. That is, a gift to God. So here is money that they should be giving to their parents to help take care of perhaps poor parents, their need. Instead, they give it to the temple. And then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God in no effect through your traditions, which you have handed down, and many such things you do. So Christ clearly shows that he would rather that they keep the commandment, honor their parents, rather than give an extra gift. We're not talking about tithes, we're talking about a gift, a Corbin, to the temple.

The word honor means to place value on, to revere, to venerate, to show respect. When you honor your parents, you show respect. To curse means to speak evil of, to revile, to abuse, or to curse.

Why do we honor our mothers, our parents? Well, many reasons. I'm sure we could stop here and we could all come up with several dozen reasons. They gave us life. That's one reason. They nursed, fed, and dipered and taught us, and helped us to grow up. They loved us with unfailing love, called unconditional love. Children may respond to their parents in multiple ways in trying to honor their parents. They may respect them, may esteem them, may have concern for them, show affection and love for them, consideration, appreciation, nurture them, forgive.

Honoring involves positive acts to help them bring them joy and improve their life.

It's not always just obedience. I think we tend to think, well, to honor your parents means as a child you have to obey. But the principle applies to grown-ups, whether you're 70 years old or you're two years old, that you are to honor your parents.

It is a command directly directed at adults as well as children to protect their parents from being driven out of their homes, abused, and all of these types of things. It's easy. You see so many parents today that are sort of put off into a home and left there. And maybe somebody comes by every six months to see them. And it's pathetic when you walk down the hallways in some of these places. Included in the meaning of honor, especially from the Hebrew, it means to be heavy, suggesting, giving weight to. You give weight to this commandment, to honoring your parents, that they should be treated seriously. Now, we know that as parents we should also be honorable, right? That we all try as parents to be honorable. That means that we love our children unconditionally for who they are. We direct them, as the book of Proverbs says, to train up a child in the way that he should go. So we give them direction, guidance on how they should live, conduct their lives. We nurture them, we guide them, we support them, we try to help them develop their gifts, their talents. You know, in all of these ways, we're there for them. What if you think, well, my parents are not worthy to be honored?

You know, all the time I have people come up to me and say, how dare you say I should honor my parents? My parents are unworthy. Well, there can be ongoing hurts and pain in a relationship.

It might be detrimental, especially if there's a history of child abuse, or there's, you know, different problems of this nature. No one specific behavior is commanded. You know, when the Bible talks about to honor, it's open-ended.

Our parents deserve to be honored. The commandment to honor your parents is not based upon whether your parents deserve it. See, that's what a lot of people say.

Well, my parents don't deserve it. It doesn't say honor your parents if they deserve it.

If they don't deserve it, you don't have to honor them. It doesn't say that. It is a commandment.

Right? Honor your father and your mother. Period. It doesn't qualify it. So, we are to honor our parents. And in such a situation, you can honor them, and you can help them. Sometimes, you know, you might not be able to do a whole lot for them if they're honoring. They don't want you around, but you can honor their memory. You can thank God for them giving you life, and you can forgive them if, you know, there's been some type of hurt, and you can not tear them down in front of other people, but to pay honor and to esteem them before others. Let's notice Ephesians 6.2.

Ephesians 6.2.1 says, Children, obey your parents, and the Lord. This is right. This is good. This is right.

Honor your father, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth. Then it tells parents, fathers especially, not to provoke their children, but to bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. We need to follow what God says here to honor our father and our mother, to improve our relationship.

If we do the right job, how are our children going to know about honor and respect? They're going to see it from their parents. If we, as parents, honor our parents, their grandparents, and if a husband honors his wife and she pays respect and honor to her husband, they're going to grow up seeing that in the family. As Exodus 21.15 tells us, let's notice, Exodus 21.15 says, He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

So anyone who abuses, beats, strikes, hurts his parents, the Bible says, is worthy of death.

We should be doing the opposite. Let's notice Leviticus 19, verse 3.

Leviticus 19, verse 3, Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep my Sabbaths.

I am the Lord your God. So we are to revere our mother. Revere.

Proverbs chapter 6. I won't even try to get through everything in the book of Proverbs.

Take this book I mentioned to you about Proverbs. Look up family, look up parents, look up mother, look up father. See all of the places in the book of Proverbs and the Ecclesiastes where it mentions it. But Proverbs 6, verse 20, says, My son, keep your father's command, and do not forsake the law of your mother.

I want you to notice here, don't forsake the law of your mother or the command of your father.

Notice what it tells you to do. Bind them continually upon your heart.

You are to bind them on your heart. Tie them around your neck.

So you bind them and you tie them. When you roam, they will lead you.

Now, there are the right principles of how to live, how a man should treat his wife, and how a wife should treat her husband. That's one thing we really tried to emphasize to our boys growing up, having five sons. How they should treat women. And we just simply did not allow disrespect. And when we heard our boys speaking in a way that maybe was off-colored or so on about women or girls, they had to talk. Or we had to talk. They had to listen. And we would point out the right way. So when you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. And when you awake, they shall speak with you. They should speak to you and guide you and lead you.

For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is a light, and reproof and instructions are the way of life. You see, God's commandments, instructions that you receive from your parents.

Generally, most parents are not going to tell their children, it's okay for you to go out and get drunk every night. It's okay for you to play around or do these type of things. You normally try to teach them in the right way. And as it says here, if you take heed to what they say, then they will keep you from the evil woman. And it goes on to show a number of things that they will keep you from.

So, notice, bind, tie them, keep them, speak, command, and a light. All of these are references, verbs, actions that we need to do that apply to the instructions that were given.

What does it mean to be a mother? What does it mean to be a mother?

Notice a situation that occurred.

Teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet.

M-A-G-N-E-T, magnet. And what it does, the next day on a written test, she included this question.

My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?

When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with mother. Not magnet, but mother. It's been six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby. Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, normal is history. Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct.

Well, somebody never took a three-year-old shopping. Somebody said a mother is boring. Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

I've done five of those. It is scary.

Somebody said good mothers never raise their voices. Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see their child hit a golf ball through the kitchen window of the neighbor.

So somebody said a mother can learn all the answers to her child-reigned questions in a book.

Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

I don't know if you have ever had to try to get those out, but we have.

And it's a delicate process.

So somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery.

Somebody never watched her baby get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten or a plane hit for a military boot camp.

You might say there's someone to go overseas. Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after a child gets married.

Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son-in-law or daughter-in-law to the mother's worries.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home.

Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody says your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her.

Somebody isn't a mother because all mothers want to hear, I love you.

I don't care what age they are. Their children are still alive.

Again, I ask you the question, what would you say to your mother if you could see her again?

You should tell her, I think, more often that you love her.

You'd communicate more with her. You'd share life more.

You would obviously let her know.

Any question that begins with, I wish, you would ask advice. In other words, I wish I had.

Those are the questions that you wish you could go back and ask.

If your parents are still alive, you need to take advantage of this.

You'll get down to family history because when they're gone, they're gone.

There's a whole generation that dies with it.

Notice Proverbs 23, verse 22.

Proverbs chapter 23.

We'll read here in verse 22. Listen to your father who begets you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

You don't despise them when you're old.

So, we need to make sure we do love our children and our children that we love our parents.

Let's notice in 2 Timothy 1.5, we have an outstanding example here, 2 Timothy chapter 1.

In verse 5 of Timothy's mother and grandmother, Timothy's mother and grandmother are mentioned as women of faith and women of influence in Timothy's life. Here's an example of a divided family. Timothy's dad was a Greek. He was not, apparently, a convert. These women were to Judaism and then to the Church. They had a profound effect upon Timothy's life and influence over him.

2 Timothy 1.5, When I called remembrance, the genuine faith that is in you, which dwell first in your grandmother, Loyce, in your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Well, he goes on to say, beginning in verse 15 of chapter 3, that from a child you have known the holy scriptures. Where did he learn the holy scriptures from a child? From his mother, his grandmother, who taught him God's way of life. Men must honor our wives also. Where do children learn to honor their mother? It begins in the home. It's the example set by dad, by the love and respect that is shown to his mate, to his wife, by seeking her advice and her opinion, by demanding obedience to her as well as himself, by his children. Or, as Billy Sunday once said, try praising your wife, even if it frightens her at first. You'll let her know how much you appreciate her. Or, the sign in wallpaper and paint store illustrates the value of a wife.

Husbands choosing colors must have note from their wives. So, they weren't going to trust the husband to go in there and do that. Notice this concerning husbands and wives.

What not to buy for your wife? What is it that you should not buy? Although the only person a man usually shops for is his wife, the whole experience is a stressful one. Many a man is felt the extreme frigid temperatures for a long period based on poor, present decision-making. As a veteran of these wars, I'm still not sure what to buy my wife, but I'll pass on what not to buy your wife.

Number one, don't buy anything with plugs in it. Anything that requires electricity is seen as unitarian. So, are you utilitarian, I should say? So, you buy her a blender, you skill it, you know, whatever. Yeah, uh-uh, that doesn't go over well.

Don't buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are, one in seven thousand, that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6,999 times. Do I look like a size 16?

She'll say, too small a size doesn't cut it either. I have worn a size 8 in 20 years, and so you're in trouble, whichever way you might go. Avoid all things useful. The new silver polish advertised to save hundreds of dollars is not going to win you any brownie points. So, you don't do that.

Don't buy anything that involves weight loss or self-improvement. This is perceived as suggesting that she's overweight. So, if you give her a six months, you know, pass membership to an exercise center. That's not good either. Don't buy jewelry. The jewelry your wife wants, you can't afford. The jewelry you can afford, she doesn't want. And, guys, do not fall into the traditional trap of buying her frilly underwear. Your idea of the kind your wife should wear and what she actually wears are light years apart. Finally, don't spend too much. How do you think you're going to afford that, she'll ask, but don't spend too little. She'll say, she won't say anything, but she'll think, is that all I'm worth? So, you look at it, you might say, can't win. But, we have to realize that I think there's some wisdom in what is said here. Perhaps the best thing to do is to take your wife out and say, let's go buy you something. What would you like?

And let her choose and buy. You know, that's one way of doing it. You can take her out to dinner, you can buy flowers, you can give her your card and all of these things, but be careful in the other areas. Unless she's dropped hints.

You know, if she's told you she wants a new Mercedes, well, I shouldn't put new, because you probably don't own an old one, but whatever it might be, that might be a little different.

Let me finish here by giving you the job description of a parent. You are a parent, or a mother. Position, it can be mom, mommy, mama, ma, dad, daddy, dad, dad, Paul, papa, pop, you know, any one of these. Here's the job description.

Now, maybe you should have read this before you had children, for those of you who have children. Long-term team player needed for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment.

Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skill, be willing to work veritable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 20-wire shifts on call. Now, some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites, on rainy weekends, endless sports tournaments, and faraway cities.

Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties are also required. Responsibilities for the rest of your life. You have responsibility for the rest of your life.

Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.

Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.

Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds flat in case the scream coming from the backyard or not for someone just crying, woof. Must be willing to face stimulating technological challenges, such as small gadget repairs, mysteriously sluggish toilets, and stuck zippers.

Most must screen phone calls, maintain calendars, coordinate production of multiple homework projects.

Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.

Must be willing to be indispensable one minute and an embarrassment to the Knicks.

You know, you walk back here and you're going through a mall. Your children walk in front of you.

Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half-million cheap plastic toys and battery-operated devices.

Must always hope for the best, be prepared for the worst.

Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibility also includes floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

Now, possibility for advancement and promotion.

If you take this job, what are going to be your chances for promotion and advancement?

None.

Your job is to remain in the same position for years without complaining. You must constantly be retraining and updating your skills so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

Previous experience needed.

None required.

Unfortunately, on-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

Wages and compensation.

Get this.

You pay them.

They don't pay you.

Offering frequent raises and bonuses.

A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them and become financially independent.

When you die, you give them whatever is left.

And the oddest thing about this reverse salary scheme is that you have to pay them.

As if you actually enjoy it.

And wish you could only do more. Wish you could give them more.

Benefits.

While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays, no stock options are offered, the job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, free hugs, and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

And a footnote.

There is no retirement.

Ever.