Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey, happy Mother's Day, ladies. I I know that, that's all the things that moms don't say, but isn't it crazy that sometimes that's how your kids make you think that that that's what we should be doing? And, you know, I I love Mother's Day. Part of it is because, I love my mom, but I also love the mom of my kids, and I I love seeing the families, together and to honor the people. You know, the scripture says honor bring honor to those to whom honor is due. And on on a day like today or the weekend like this is, the weekend of Mother's Day, this is a great time to bring honor to where honor is due into the moms in our midst. And so we're we're really grateful to have you guys, and you know that we know that moms come in all kind of shapes and sizes and and that there are different times in in a mom's life. And, I wanted to share this evening just very briefly, from I'm scriptures are descriptive, and then sometimes they're challenging, and sometimes they're comforting, and and sometimes they're, you know, overwhelming, to be honest. And but this is what it says.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:20]:
It says this. Ready? Let's read. It says, well, I'll I'll read out loud. You can read out loud too if you like. But who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her. She will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good and not harm all the days of her life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:40]:
She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchant ship bringing her food from afar. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day's work for her household and plan the day's work for her servant girls. She goes to inspect the field and buys it with her earnings. She plants a vineyard. She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She makes sure her dealings are profitable, and her lamp burns late into the night. Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:14]:
She extends a helping hand to the poor and open her arms to the needy. She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes. She makes her own bedspreads, and she dresses in fine linens and purple gowns. And her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders. She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants. She's clothed with strength and dignity. She laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:51]:
She carefully watches everything in her household and sufferings nothing from laziness. Her children stand and bless her, and her husband praises her. And I I said that sometimes it's encouraging, sometimes it's instructive, sometimes it's challenging, sometimes it's comforting, and all of these things, but sometimes I did say, as must do all of these things at all of the time, I think it'd be a little overwhelming. I I think rather what the scripture speaks of in is in the course of a woman's life as a as a wife, as a mom that there are these times that you're you're up early and you're you're in a bed late. That you're you're the one who's concerned about, hey, what's what are the kids worrying when they go to school? Is it it's cold? Is it rainy? Is it is there something to eat? And maybe you're concerned about the financial situation as well as all that goes on. And I I think probably the more likelihood of this proverb is that that in the course of a woman's life, she experiences all of these seasons if she becomes a mom, becomes a wife. And so I think these seasons that that that women go through, these seasons that that moms go through that would you know that you you don't do them all at once, but that things change. Now if you're a man in this room today, because we wanna speak to the ladies, this this weekend in particular.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:22]:
If you're a man and you might be wondering, well, why did I come to church today? Well, first of all, all of you have a mom. Right? Because it's like impossible that you didn't have one. But the other thing is that the likelihood is that you're if you're married, that that your wife, if she you guys have children, she's the wife, mother of your children. Right? And I do know that so many times that when I talk to guys and they're joking and they say, well, she's not my mom. Right? But come on. Don't be an idiot. So, but so and if you do, you're you're an idiot if you say that kind of a thing, and don't do anything for your your wife. But, you know, bring honor to where honor is due.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:05]:
And so we wanna honor you ladies, but but but brother sometimes you we need to be aware of the different seasons in our wives' lives. Brother, we need to be aware sometimes of the seasons of your mom's life. Sometimes we need be aware of the sisters in in our lives and the people that we care about because their their lives go through different seasons. Now, you know, to speak definitively about all of these seasons, I will give a 6 point message on these No. I'm just kidding. I'm not gonna do it because I I haven't been through those seasons. I've had the privilege of watching some of those seasons, and so, I've asked some of the ladies in our church, some of the moms in our midst to speak, to you ladies about the grace God has for each of you in the various seasons of your life. And so I'd like to call the ladies, to come on up, and they're they're each gonna share a few minutes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:59]:
It's gonna be Carla Furamizo, Rica Yamaguchi, Donna Pagai, Diane Sugita, Lindsay Freeman Hoskins, and, Carla, you sit there, and Donna, you sit here, and Lindsey, you're in the middle, and Corles Cuike. And, each of these ladies that, that are up here, they're in a different season. Everybody's kind of in a little different season. They've been through some different seasons, but one of the things I've seen is we've seen, the the heart of Jesus in them. We've seen the hand of God on their life, and we wanted them to be able to share. And so can we just give a warm new Hope Kapolei welcome to the ladies as they share the message this evening from them?

Karla Furumizo [00:06:52]:
Good evening. I'm Carla, and I get to share from the perspective of having school age children. So since I'm first, I thought I should start off with a joke, and I ran this by Jeff, so hopefully it's good. Motherhood is like a fairy tale, but in reverse. You start off in a beautiful gown, then end up in stained rags cleaning up after little people. But in in all seriousness, I do have to laugh at myself every year when Mother's Day comes around because when I first got married to Glenn, I wasn't sure I wanted to have children at all. Motherhood just looked like a really tough job. I had a pretty carefree, adventurous young adult life and frankly, I thought if I followed God's plan and had children, that it wouldn't be as fun.

Karla Furumizo [00:07:37]:
And I know that's selfish, but that's just some of what went through my head. So fast forward 15 years of raising 3 children and I could not have been more wrong. I love being a mom. I loved Ezekiel growing in me and God knitting him together and feeling the little bump of when he pushed an elbow or a foot. I loved carrying Makayla in one of those little pouches right next to my heart, and she would just stare at me with this content look that just stole my heart. I loved reading endless stories to my youngest son who always wanted to hear one more chapter. And now I love hiking with them. I love learning their personalities.

Karla Furumizo [00:08:17]:
I love pointing them to Jesus and helping them walk out their own faith in our Lord and savior. So each one of my kids is just a reminder of how much higher God's ways are, how much better his plans are. And they each have their own dreams now. Our son, Ezekiel, is dreaming of being a pilot and traveling the world. My daughter loves dance, so would love to do something with that passion. My youngest son would be happy fishing every day of his life. And while I have no idea how God plans to use them, I trust that his plans are higher and that his ways are perfect. So that's my first encouragement and that encourages me in the big picture.

Karla Furumizo [00:08:56]:
But as we know, when we mother when we are a mom of young kids, that it's in the details of the day to day. And there are a lot of details. I have the privilege of homeschooling my children. So in addition to being their mom, I get to be their primary teacher. So we spend oodles of time together and you could drown in the details of the day to day. I wrote down a couple. You guys might be able to relate to some of these. Okay.

Karla Furumizo [00:09:28]:
How do I cultivate the hearts for the Lord? What values are we fostering in our family? What curriculum will equip them well? Teaching them responsibilities for household chores, putting relationships first, helping them choose godly friends. What's our role in ministry? What extracurricular activities will be a good fit? Nutrition, financial management, the list goes on and on and it can be overwhelming. But the truth is that I don't have to do this in my own strength. That the Lord, he goes before us. We have access to the perfect parent, the perfect teacher who offers access to his power, his wisdom, his guidance, and his love. So it is life giving to know that we don't have to do this in our own strength. And then my last and favorite piece of encouragement is that God's grace is new every day. So even though I have access to this perfect parent, I still fall short every day.

Karla Furumizo [00:10:28]:
And it can be discouraging to constantly make mistakes. So I wrote down a few more. See if you can relate to any of these. Not thoroughly covering my kids in prayer, raising my voice, over committing to activities, being critical rather than encouraging, prioritizing parenting over marriage, nagging. The list is endless, but so is God's grace. So my favorite verse is out of Lamentations, chapter 3. You guys know this verse. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

Karla Furumizo [00:11:10]:
His mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. So just to my sisters in Christ, if you have any kind of mother or auntie role, just be encouraged by the truth, that his plans are better, his ways are higher, that we don't have to do it in our own strength, and that His grace is fresh every morning. Thank you.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:11:37]:
Hi. I'm Rica, and thank you for this time. And today, I would like to encourage some mom with teenagers because I really understand it might be a challenging season. You know, I have 3 children. They are all about 20 years, you know, 20. So it's a while ago. But there are all 3 children. They are all like about 2 years apart.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:12:11]:
So once I had 3 children in high school at the same time. So I think I understand how it can be challenging. And I love my children, and I think they are wonderful, even though they are still growing and learning. I just remember the mornings, you know, mornings when they were in high school so peacefully that I said, oh, good morning. What would you like to eat, with pancake or bacon and egg? It wasn't like that at all, you know? So I had to I had to say, like, okay, wake up. It's time. You know, hurry up. You'll be late.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:13:06]:
Come on. Every morning was like that. And, you know, yes. And I said, okay, it's time. Let's go in the car. And somebody says, like, oh, I have to go to the bathroom. And why now? You know? And on the way to go to school, driving and sometimes somebody says like, oh, I forgot my backpack. Okay.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:13:38]:
What are you going to school for? And sometimes they say, like, oh, I forgot my shoes. What? I turn around and, like, sometimes they say, oh, I forgot my lunch. I I made, lunch every morning for them, and in my heart it was salty because I wanted them to eat. But sometimes I turned and run, but sometimes, oh, never mind, let's go. You'll be late. Because I was thankful everybody went to the same school, but that means if one was late, you know, the 2 gonna be all of them gonna be 30. And I tried hard. I didn't want them to be late.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:14:25]:
So I tried. So more so, you know, when they said like, oh, I forgot my shoes. I forgot my backpack. Just, you know, that my, like, volcano mom came out. And so they could see the magma in my eyes, and they could hear magma from my mouth, and they could see the steam from my head. You know, and I just, it was so hard for me. But, I dropped them off, and afterwards I, you know, came down. And I felt so bad for them.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:15:08]:
So guilty. Sorry. And I felt like failed and disappointed in me myself because it wasn't the first time. It was hard. It was hard. But those times that I had to come to God, you know, I said, I'm so sorry. My volcano mom came out, and they saw the magnum in me. And like I said, Sorry God, I need You.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:15:48]:
I really need You. Please help me. And after school, they all did the sports. And I was so happy they're involved in the sports. I wanted them to do at least one thing, you know? So I was happy, but I was just a taxi driver, back and forth, like, 6 times, 7 times, driving back, you know, back and forth, different times, sometimes different places. But I wanted them because they wanted to do so. I wanted to help. But I told this is overwhelming.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:16:29]:
Maybe one sport for them, but 3 for me. And I felt like, juggling. I was juggling all the schedule. And, you know, like I told God I have one body. I only have one body. How can I do this? You know? But it was a blessing that I could do. And come to God, I said like, I'm sorry. I need your help.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:17:02]:
I really need your help. Please help me. And I had 3 children, but, you know, and I was with them, but I didn't have time, enough time with each of them, which I wanted more, you know, so I struggled, and I felt guilty again. But I came to God and tried everything, juggling everything. And guess what? I wasn't just juggling. I was running and dealing with my feeling guilt and disappointed in myself. But God was so good, He always opened His arms for me. And sometimes I was so ashamed to come to God because I'm coming with the same thing and say sorry again and again.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:18:02]:
And I I wanted to hide, but it didn't solve the problem, of course. So I went to God. I asked for his grace and mercy. I tried jargroading and running and dealing with myself. I felt like, you know, I was juggling and running by myself, but, I realized later, I was running on the on the god God's moving sidewalk. I don't know if you know that. At the airport, they have a long, you know, that moving sidewalk. So I was running, juggling 3 or 4 things, but I was running on God's grace and mercy.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:18:58]:
And He carried me. He carried me wherever I needed to go. And sometimes I drop, I stop. But, you know, God was so good to me. And sometimes you might feel guilty, fail, or disappointed in yourself like I did, but But, God has a grace for you like he had with me. And all my children, they're now, you know, they can wake up by themselves and they can go to work and on time and they work hard. And you know, I'm so thankful. I'm really thankful.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:19:40]:
It's not what I did, but you know, God is so good. And they are so thankful that, you know, they don't have to see Volcano Mom anymore. Yeah. So it's good. And you might feel it's sunless season. But when I look back, I'm so blessed and thankful for those times because God carried me through. Even I wasn't good, I didn't feel a spiritual moment at all. But by God's grace and mercy, He carried me through and breast myself and bless my kids.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:20:27]:
I want to read one scripture, Corinthian 69. So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will live a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. And you don't have to give up. Just keep going. You are running on God's moving sidewalk of God's grace and mercy. Thank you.

Donna Pagay [00:21:06]:
Hi everyone. My name is Donna Paghai, and my husband is Pastor Jeff. You know, my talk is going to be a little bit different. I don't have all the stories to share, you know, with all the kids and stuff, so, bear with me. It's kinda like more like a testimony in a sense because, anyway, I'll get started. Growing up, I always thought I'd eventually get married, have several children, and live happily ever after. You know, you just assume that life would take its course, but as life would have it, you grow older and you find out that life's experiences doesn't always line up with what you hoped for or dreamed of. Many of you have experienced the blessing and joy of having a child or children, but I speak to the ones that, specifically to the ones that have experienced loss.

Donna Pagay [00:21:59]:
In our case, several miscarriages. Jeff and I experienced the elation of each of our pregnancies as well as the unexpected crashing of our joy and dreams with each child that passed away. And I know that it didn't help that I was in my, you know, early forties. I found out later that it was because my folic acid levels were too low and, those are the building blocks of the organ, the brain, and the spine. Some might have even said, maybe it's because of your lack of faith, you know, but I know it wasn't that because we prayed earnestly, we prayed fervently for each child, you know. And so, you know, it was such a painful thing to have to go through, individually as well as a couple. And it it affects every part of your being, you know, your emotions, your, you know, psychological and spiritual, you know, parts. And it doesn't just affect the mother, but it affects the father too.

Donna Pagay [00:23:02]:
And even it can even affect the relationship. You know, there were times I felt like, you know, God abandoned us and didn't want us to be parents. So I'd ask him why. I remember saying, God, I think we would be pretty good parents. I know we would love our children, you know, and some of the thoughts and questions that ran through my mind during those seasons were, God, I mean, did we lose our babies because of something that we did? Are we being punished? Did we do something wrong? And I remember that scripture, Psalm 139, 23, and 24. Search me, O God, and know my heart, and try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there'd be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. You know, and during those times, I felt like my faith was, as small as the size of a mustard seed. But I knew one thing, like Paul the Apostle said in 2 Timothy 112, I know in whom I have believed, and I would never leave my faith in God, even if it felt like I was just hanging on by a thread, you know.

Donna Pagay [00:24:02]:
But, I think it took me about a good 5 years, to be able to rise out of my depression and to heal. And I know for some of you that have experienced this, it might be even longer, you know, than that, but God is faithful. He walked with us during those dark seasons, and as much pain as I was in, I knew that He was sovereign and that His thoughts and His ways were greater than mine. Isaiah 55:8-nine says that. I knew that I had to not only trust Him, but I had to entrust my pain and my sorrow because He was the only one that really knew, you know, how I felt and what I what we went through. By the way, I was asking pastor again, are you sure you want, you know, me to talk about this? And he says, yes, I think it's important because it's something that's not really talked about. And people, that have experienced this, you know, they need need to hear encouragement and to know that God can heal you through this. You know, but what led to my eventual healing occurred on Mother's Day 1 year as I was driving on the highway to my parents' home after church.

Donna Pagay [00:25:10]:
I was crying out loud to the Lord and pouring my heart out to Him with so much pain and anguish, and as tears of sorrow, you know, like streamed down my face, I said, Lord, why couldn't I be a mama? Then I heard the Lord say tenderly to me, But You are 1. And it caught me by surprise when I heard that. I paused and I was puzzled at what I heard. Then I heard Him say, Just because your children weren't born, it doesn't mean that you're not a mother. Wow. I never thought or felt that way before. You know, He made me realize that I am a mother. Those words brought so much consolation to my soul, and God also gave me His peace because I knew that our children were safe with Him, and that is the best place to be, right, with the Lord.

Donna Pagay [00:25:57]:
There's no pain or suffering also. Right? And so I believe that, just because we don't have our babies here on earth, it doesn't mean we'll never be with them. King David said in 2 Samuel 12:23 after hearing of his son's death. He said that he will go to him, meaning he would see his child again one day. Jeff and I will get to reunite with our children one day when we depart from this world, and when we see them, we'll just know it's them. We'll get to call each one of them by name, Brooke, Jenna, and Elijah. We believe they will recognize us too, and that beautiful reunion will be for eternity, not just for a number of years. God told me that I'm a mom, but I know that it doesn't even compare to all you mothers, you know, out there who have worked so hard and so sacrificially in every way to raise your child, you know, or children.

Donna Pagay [00:26:50]:
You know, that in itself is huge. You know, so, you know, actually this is my first Mother's Day without my mama, since she passed away in February, but I'll always remember her love, hard work, sacrifice, and devotion for my brother and I. So I know that, you know, I give you all moms, you know, my utmost respect and honor, right, to all of you out there. I know being called mom is not the same, you know, as what you folks have done, but it did, really minister to my heart when the Lord said that. And since then, I just love the kids around me, both young and old. I've been told, by some that they looked to me as their spiritual mom, and it would bring tears to my eyes when I would hear that. God also blessed me with wonderful and beautiful Hanae kids that call me mom and tell me that they love me, and every time they call me mom or mama, it just warms my heart to no end. And how wonderful is that? Like God didn't have to do that, you know? But He knew that I always wanted to hear those words, and He fulfilled that dream for me.

Donna Pagay [00:27:55]:
So if you have walked this path like me, may I encourage you to be the best spiritual mom to those around you? When people used to ask me if we had children, I used to always say no. But since God ministered to me that day years ago, I now say yes. I have 3 in heaven. So God bless you all, especially to you mamas that have children waiting for you in heaven. You will see them one day. Happy Mother's Day.

Dyan Sugita [00:28:29]:
Okay. My turn. Really, really nice to hear from all the ladies up here and, such beautiful testimonies of their life. Most of you know me. I'm Dyan. I'm the one that has 6 kids. My husband is Barry. We have very interesting family dynamics.

Dyan Sugita [00:28:51]:
Just to give you guys a little bit more background, we're also a blended family. You know? So, on top of that, I have the oldest. My oldest is gonna be 24, 25 this year. And I was a single mom in one season of my life. Then together with Barry and I, he brought 3 children of his own. And together, we blended. And then we did the bended season. Test.

Dyan Sugita [00:29:18]:
Oh, no. There it is. Okay. Yeah. And then from there together, we have our 2 littles. I call them our littles. They're, 7 4 years old. And although I've been through all these different seasons of motherhood, I get the honor of sharing of what it's like to be, a working mom, a working mom.

Dyan Sugita [00:29:38]:
So when I think of working moms, I think of, I'm sure most of you that how many of you work? Let me get a raise of hand. Yeah. So we've got quite a few people in here that work, and I know that the busyness of work, that's the first thing that usually comes to my mind is how busy things can get and how you're juggling task after task that you get pulled in all these directions, you know, from deadlines to, you know, reports that need to get made, taxes that need to get filed. So on top of that, my my husband actually, he's he has his own business, a sprinkler business. And so I I get to do all the admin work, and he's upstairs doing all the project management stuff. And so together, that adds just another dynamic to this as well because now we work together all day. And we see each other all day. And we go home.

Dyan Sugita [00:30:29]:
And we're, you know, together all day. So it's challenging. Things can get challenging, you know? So, but again, thinking about the busyness and juggling the kids. And so routines, you know, just trying to keep the schedules, keep the routines going. We wake up early. We get our kids ready for school. We one takes them to, you know, get her to the bus. I take the other one to preschool.

Dyan Sugita [00:30:54]:
I get to work. We do our thing at work. We shoot at home, And we cook dinner. And we get them ready for bed. And so it's just nonstop busyness after busyness. You know? And so I know that all of you folks can relate to that. As a working mom, there's 3 things that kind of came to me. So the first one was the busyness.

Dyan Sugita [00:31:14]:
The second one was, okay, now, now we know about the busyness. How do we find this balance? Right? We're looking for balance and we seek the lord and say, Lord, help me find the balance. How can I prioritize my time between work, between ministry, between my children, within with my husband, you know? And I know that even for that, that's been a challenge. But again, I think we have to always focus on what's most important to us, you know? So, prioritizing is is super critical. And so finding the balance, that's my second B. The last B is, blessings. And once you kind of get into this good rhythm, then you can kind of see the blessings in your life, yeah? So, I'm just going to share a little bit more, kind of leading up to this week. So, one of the things that's super, super, super important to me is always keeping god in the center of everything that I do.

Dyan Sugita [00:32:13]:
He is my rock. He is my strength. He is my guide. So, as we're, like, leading up to this, this weekend, I didn't know I was gonna speak. And so I was just kind of, you know, busy with life, busy with juggling. I have we also host a life group on Wednesdays, and I'm like, Lord, give me something to talk about. What am I going to share? So, there's all these different pressures of like where I'm getting pulled, pulled into, you know? So, anyways, with that being said, the lord had led me to the book of Thessalonians and if you folks know the book of Thessalonians, it's about, hardworking and perseverance and, despite being persecuted at times, too. And so, that's where it kind of led.

Dyan Sugita [00:33:00]:
And then from then, there was just another confirmation after confirmation after confirmation. I'm like, okay, Lord. This is this is awesome because you know that you're being led in the right direction when you keep him in the center of everything that you do. And when he confirms these things for you, whether it was, one of the the ladies in our life group that shared and said, you know, it's so crazy because I was just listening to a podcast in Thessalonians. And I'm like, okay. We must be on the right track. Then from there, you know, just having shared a little bit more in the following week, we watched this other video that led, to talking about busyness and idleness and how keep yourselves busy, being busy with the good things in life. Right? And being able to juggle and balance dizziness.

Dyan Sugita [00:33:46]:
Hello? Sorry. But and so being able to to balance that. And, and so I was like, wow. Okay. This this is hitting it right on the nail. Like, really hitting it on the nail for me because, it's really bringing it home for me. And then on top of that, then, you know, I was asked to speak about what what it is to be a working mom. And I said, oh, wow.

Dyan Sugita [00:34:11]:
You know, the Lord is really moving. He's given me a word already. He's already taken me through the book of Thessalonians over the last 3 weeks. And now it's just confirmation that despite this busyness that we go through, despite having to prioritize, despite having to juggle all these different things, my busyness is a good busyness. So for working moms, I wanna encourage you because it doesn't turn off. My my my job never never turns off. As moms, we never can turn it off. Right? When we're sick, we still do.

Dyan Sugita [00:34:41]:
When we're, you know, when our children get sick, we're we're right there. You know, when we're at work, we still have to juggle the the task of being a mother as well as being a working mom. So I just wanna encourage you to continue to be even though in your busyness, even though it seems overwhelming, to continue to seek the Lord in everything that you do, and he will confirm your steps for you. He will confirm the the places that you should be. The last thing I wanted to share. So, Rica actually stole. She stole my she stole my scripture, guys. I'm just saying Stole my scripture.

Dyan Sugita [00:35:19]:
So, as we was reading in Thessalonians and, as I was just kind of, digging into his word earlier in the week, the the verse of the day was in Galatians 69. And so again, I'm just going to echo her. I'm going to go ahead and echo her echo her, what she has shared in Galatians 69. So, let us not get tired of what is good. At just the time, we'll reap the harvest of blessings if we did if we don't give up. Again, that's Galatians 69. So that was my other confirmation from the Lord saying that don't give up. Don't give up.

Dyan Sugita [00:35:54]:
You're doing the right thing. In your busyness, just keep pushing and don't let that idleness of, being a quote unquote busy body also, you know? So, finding the things that the lord wants you to do and keeping him in the center of everything but allowing him to show up and giving him the space to show himself to you. Seek the Lord with all your heart, and he will he will guide your path. So, anyways, that's what I had to share. Thank you.

Lindsey Freeman Hoskin [00:36:28]:
Okay, here we go. Hi, everyone. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Lindsey. I'm going a little bit about my blended family.

Dyan Sugita [00:36:41]:
I just think I just don't know. You just gotta go up. I did the same thing. Just hold it up high. In the trees? Yeah.

Rika Yamaguchi [00:36:50]:
Alright. Let's see.

Lindsey Freeman Hoskin [00:36:53]:
My husband, Corey, and I each had 3 children when we got married and then concluded our family with 2 more kiddos. So our oldest is 28, and our youngest just turned 8. So and then fill in the gaps there. I know your math isn't wrong. That's 8 kids. I'd like to say that we were the Brady Bunch, but it wasn't always as easy as that. Although blending our families, I'm sorry, didn't come without its challenges, I give God all the glory for the peace that I felt and the wisdom God gave us when we integrated our families. We went through many different seasons as I'm sure you can imagine.

Lindsey Freeman Hoskin [00:37:41]:
We had physical, emotional, and spiritual battles that we faced throughout the years. I'll tell you right now that without prayer and knowing that Jesus was walking through every storm that we faced, I don't think I'd be here talking to you today. Corinne, I have also seen many miracles, physical healings, children that turned from God and returned to him, damaged relationships mended, and, there are prayers that we're still waiting to be answered. Raising 8 children with 8 different personalities and even trying to unteach some behaviors, from coming from different backgrounds, was a challenge sometimes to say the least. But what I have learned is to parent successfully, I had to surrender. I had to give each one of my sweet children back to God. I couldn't do it otherwise. The most important thing I think my parents did for me was introducing me to Jesus, And I hope that all my children can say the same thing.

Lindsey Freeman Hoskin [00:39:02]:
The Bible says in Proverbs 226, train up a child in the way he should go, teaching him to seek god's wisdom, and will for his abilities and talents. And even when he is old, he will not depart from it. That's what I have held on to, that promise. I know that God put me in, each one of my children's life for a purpose, whether I birth them or not. I feel as though it's my ministry, and I thank God for it. Thank you for allowing me to share.

Coralis Koike [00:39:43]:
Hi. I'm Corles, and I get to talk about being a mom to adult children. I have 2 sons in their forties. I have 5 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Years ago I thought I was completely ready to be a mom only to learn that there was so much I needed to know. There was no practice, no training, no instruction manual. This learning is necessary in every stage in the life of a mom. Whether you are planning to be a mother or already a great grandmother.

Coralis Koike [00:40:19]:
My 2 sons were great kids as little people. As they grew into teenagers and adults, the challenges became greater. Drug and alcohol abuse were not on my list of things I thought I needed to learn about, but there I was dealing with it. How could my perfect family be so out of control? Their dad and I didn't use or abuse alcohol and drugs, and neither did the generation before us, so we couldn't blame generational curses. So we set our eyes on God and we did a lot of praying for God's wisdom and mercy. The long story short is God lovingly and graciously answered our prayers. We were saved from the horrible devastation that comes with substance abuse. And the bonus was our sons were also saved by baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Coralis Koike [00:41:13]:
God truly answers prayers. One of the major things I learned as I look back on my role of shepherding adult children is you need to give yourself time to adjust to this period. They are searching to find themselves and wanting to prove that they are capable and do not need their mommy to make decisions for them. I learned that somewhere between the ages of 2040, these adults grew to have all the answers about the entire universe. I wish I knew what manual they they studied. I had become the mother with the old fashioned ideas. Did you ever think that of your mother? I know I did. It was always futile giving them advice they didn't ask for.

Coralis Koike [00:42:05]:
It was even more difficult giving them advice they did ask for. Sometimes I felt like they were asking my advice just as a courtesy, but not truly listening to my, of course, sage advice. I had to learn to allow them to act and make decisions on their own accord. Results, if my advice was used and it was successful, they would say it is because they added their own spin. If their advice was better, I took a bite of humble pie. In those times, I felt the need to acknowledge that their action, excuse me, trumped mine and that I was impressed by their action. Although this may have hurt my pride a little, I learned that they recognized my vulnerability and they were processing this. This taught me that as adults my son were open my sons were open to a kinder, more effective way of living life and giving grace.

Coralis Koike [00:43:10]:
I am blessed with a privilege to provide guidance and give unconditional love to all my children. I love it all. Oh, I take it back. Maybe not all of it. There may have been times when I really didn't want to babysit. I know bad, grandma, But I do it whenever I can so that my kids can enrich their lives or their marriages by doing something that is important to them. I learned this from my mom and I'm sure she didn't want to watch my kids all at times, but she did it out of love not only for her grandkids but for me. My mom taught me a lot about being a patient, kind, and understanding mother.

Coralis Koike [00:43:56]:
I pray that I have followed her example and made her proud. Finally I'd like to share a portion of a poem one of my adult sons wrote for me on mother's day a few years ago. Throughout his poem he was sharing memories I thought he forgot all about. He was also sharing what I interpreted as his understanding of how we mature and what's important in life. Here's the middle portion of his poem. We're both getting old, but there are some things we'll never forget. Like when I was 15 and took the van for a spin, you were probably full of rage. When I set the backyard on fire, I'm sure you wanted to lock me in a cage.

Coralis Koike [00:44:42]:
I wasn't trying to make you crazy, I was just being a boy, but somehow you made me feel I was still your pride and joy. Now time has gone by and I matured and grew, but only because the Lord blessed me with a mom like you. Aww. Moms, you probably have received something similar to this with offenses that were hopefully less hair raising to see if there truly was forgiveness on our part. Children, even adult children, remember offenses committed and carry it with them hoping that no matter when they ask for forgiveness we really do forgive or did forgive them. We do the same when we beseech our heavenly father to forgive us when we sin. For some of us we ask for forgiveness perhaps years later, and what we found is it gives us peace when we know that we don't have to carry the burden of sin. Jesus loves us so much.

Coralis Koike [00:45:51]:
Sorry, I can't hold this microphone and shuffle my papers. I never imagined being a bomb would be as rewarding as it has proven to be. If you're here where I am at this stage in life, you can probably relate. If you're not here yet, hang on because the best is yet to come. Thank you all for listening to what all of us had to share with you tonight. We hope we have shared with you a few mom life hacks and have encouraged you to fully embrace the gift of motherhood in all stages. Mothers and all those who act as mothers to our children in some way, sisters, aunties, teachers, friends, etcetera, we are so grateful for the mother role you play in the lives of our beautiful children, no matter their age. We all sincerely wish you a blessed mother's day.

Coralis Koike [00:46:53]:
Thank you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:10]:
Can we thank the ladies again? Wonderful. And as I hear the lady speak tonight, I'm mindful that the scripture talks about the joys of motherhood, and it talks about the pain. That how it says that, when you go through the anguish of childbirth and when she holds her child, she forgets it. And and even some of the words that were spoken of Jesus when he was brought to the temple talks about how wonderful things he'll do and yet how it will bring a pain to your soul. And, to be a mom takes courage in a spine of steel, and we just want to just, take some time to honor the moms in our midst. So if you're a mom, would you just do me a favor? Would you guys stand? Just stand if you're a mom. And can we just give them all a hand? Donna, stand, please. And you know, to hear what, the ladies go through to be a mom, we know it takes love, it takes courage, it takes grit, and it's day after day after day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:40]:
You never stop loving, you never stop caring, you never stop worrying, and we're just so grateful for that. We just have a little gift that we wanted to give to, each of you moms, and then guys, you wanna just hand those out. There's the the flowers and then the little other gift. Right? But we also wanted to give to you younger ladies because, the likelihood is that one day, you're gonna fall in love, one day, probably going to want to have a family, and to be honest, that we're believing that God has greater things in store for you, and that we want you to know that part of the reason why we want the ladies to share is because we learn a little more about what it means then to be that, you know, because nobody walks into this feeling totally prepared, right. And so as they're doing that, I do also, want us to be able to to pray for the ladies in a second, but the scriptures, when I read from Psalm, Proverbs 31, it also goes on and it says this, that there are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last, but a woman who fears the Lord will greatly be praised. Reward her for all she has done and let her deeds publicly declare her praise. And so our heart for you, ladies, is that you guys, you blow them all away, and we're so proud to have you as part of our family.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:24]:
We wanna pray for the ladies in her midst. If you you have the privilege to be seated next to, your mom or your your wife, the mother of your children, or or just next to one of the moms, would you just or or that one of the young ladies, would you put a hand on their shoulder? And we just wanna pray for the moms and ladies in our midst. Moms come in all kind of shapes. Right? And some of you get the privilege to be Hanae moms and mentors and do all of those things to be life giving. And you in the world, the culture is so confused and says, this is birthing persons weekend. We don't call it that. We just say it's Mother's Day, right? And so we wanna bless them. Lord, we bless the moms in our life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:12]:
Lord, for all the ups and the downs and the moments that they've stood strong with us, Father, we bless them. And father, we pray, Lord, that would there be a greater grace that's displayed in their life. And that, Lord, we're thankful that wherever these ladies are, Lord, that you said my grace is sufficient for you. So, father, we're praying that would you give rest and peace to our moms, the moms in our midst. Father, would you bless them and speak to them and speak through them. Lord, we need women like this who have been tested and are still standing. Lord, they may not always feel like they can stand, but we pray would you strengthen them with the grace and the mercy of Christ. And, father, we're praying for the young ladies in our midst that might feel like a long way to being married or to having children, but, Lord, we know You have a grace and mercy for them and that in this season, Lord, would You know that would they know that you're preparing them for something greater than what they've ever dreamed or hope or experienced? And we're praying, God, that you raise up this next callings that there is is to be a mom.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:37]:
And so, father, we pray that, would you bless them that will one day shepherd and welcome the next generation of children. We bless the ladies in our midst. And Father, we're also praying for some of us that this is a hard, this is a hard weekend just because we've we've let moms go to be with you and for some of them because to be honest, maybe it wasn't always this heartwarming with mom in our home. Father, we're praying that there would be a comfort for those that this is a difficult week. There'd be a grace and a strength over them. We're thankful for for, Lord, for those. But Lord, we give honor to whom honor is due It's to you and to the women that you brought in our lives, to the moms. We bless them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:31]:
In Jesus' name, God's people say amen. Amen. Congratulations again, ladies. Happy Mother's Day this weekend.