First Mother’s Day
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. – Exodus 20:12 NIV
I have been reminiscing this
week about Mother’s Day and the memories have come flooding back. I told my daughter this story and she said I
should share it as we laughed together. The very first recollection of Mother’s
Day was when I was five years old. It was memorable for several occasions: not
only was it Mother’s Day, but my mother was in the hospital, and had just given
me a new baby sister. While my grandmother was taking care of us in my mothers’
absence, I asked her if I could pick a few buttercups for my mother and the new
baby to arrange in the nicest jelly glass we had. She smiled and said it was a
splendid idea. It took no time at all to fill up that jelly glass. Yet, it seemed
such a shame to let our entire front yard that was overflowing with buttercups
go to waste. So, after setting the jelly glass aside and getting a big brown
grocery bag instead, I began to work feverishly in the hot May sun to fill it
up. Handful after handful. My grandmother kept an eye on me and offered me
popsicles under the gumball tree. At first, I tried to lay all the buttercups
in the same direction, but halfway through I gave up and decided quantity would
override beauty and began to fill the bag to the top. Realizing that I could
fill up another bag with all the remaining buttercups, my grandmother said with
reassurance that one bag would do nicely. I taped up that special grocery bag
and decorated the outside with crayon drawings and stickers. I presented it to
my dad who said he would hand deliver it to the hospital to my mother and our new
baby! I was so excited when she called to say it was the most beautiful bag of
buttercups she had ever received and it made her so happy. Buttercups still makes me smile!
Many years later, when I
became a mother, my most treasured gifts were those that were from the heart or
homemade. I still have a soft place in
my heart today for a brassy gold circle pin (circa 1960’s) that was missing a
pearl the day I received it, about 25 years ago. Most of my Mother’s Day gifts
from my young son came from the rounds he made on his bicycle to various yard
sales in our neighborhood, using his allowance. My daughter preferred to give
coupons for her services, like setting the table for dinner, dusting and
watering plants. Time goes by so quickly, yet thankfully some memories never
fade.
I equate Mother’s Day with
love. Both giving and receiving it. Being doubly blessed to have wonderful
relationships with both my adult children, Elizabeth and Marty and being richly
blessed to have my mother, Helen to talk to each day, to laugh and pray
together. Everyone is just a phone call away.
No doubt that we all want to
excel in this role of motherhood. As a mother, many times we are sought out for
our wisdom, yet where do we go when we need wisdom or someone to listen to us! I know when I need to talk, God is always
listening. There is much written about how to be a good Mother. The best words
I know to share are these: follow the
examples of the godly mothers in the Bible, which are always based on purity of
heart, peace and much love.
I heard it said once that
when a mother reaches Heaven, she must face God with her record of
accomplishments. If she's done a good job of caring for her children, she'll
get the most sought-after position in heaven, that of rocking baby angels on
soft white clouds and wiping their celestial tears with the corner of her apron.
Let today not end without reaching out to all mothers, to honor their role in
our lives, either by phone, card, email or in person. And if she has crossed
that doorway into heaven, lift up a word of praise and thanksgiving in her
memory. To honor our parents is godly and God promises to notice.
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