Dr Steve Danso – As the bus pulled up at the bus stop, a man, traveling with his mom, stepped out. The man quickly turned and extended an arm to help his frail mom, who was also exiting the kneeling bus, but he realized that his mom was attempting that move with some difficulty. The woman had hardly put a step down when his son halted the move, gently lifted her out of the bus onto the sidewalk, clutched her hand and began walking away as passengers in the bus watched admiringly.
If you describe the man’s act as a fitting tribute to his mom, you have not departed from the truth. His mom lovingly and passionately nurtured him into maturity and he was seizing the opportunity to reciprocate that gesture. What probably ran through his mind before considering that act was the reverence, love and the bond that existed between the two. After all, the Scriptures remind us to honor our parents so that our days on this earth will be long (Ephesians 6:2-3).
In just a few days, we will be celebrating one of the most important events on our calendar – Mother’s Day. As history tells us, the event was first suggested by Anna M. Jarvis, who loved her mother so dearly that at a memorial service for her mother on May 10, 1908, she distributed a carnation (her mother’s favorite flower) to each person who attended the service. Her action became popular and within the next few years, the idea to honor mothers was observed in a number of cities in the United States.
President Woodrow Wilson caught the hype and on May 9, 1914, proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in reverence for all mothers in the Country by an act of Congress. As if the event was timed to coincide with Spring, flowers, symbols of love and affection, are the main highlights.
If mothers, they say are supreme, the occasion serves as a fitting honor to the invaluable roles they play in society. Their enormous responsibilities start from the day of conception. We all agree that pregnancy is a blessing, but what follows its trail – morning sickness, occasional nausea and vomiting make the experience very stressful and sometimes risky.
The author of Jane Eyre, one of the famous novels of all time, Charlotte Bronte, died from severe nausea and vomiting with her unborn child in 1855. Although, this was prior to the invention of 1V Fluids that control the disease, a sizeable number of women today are hit with hyperemesis, a severe form of morning sickness that often requires hospitalization.
Yet, women remain undaunted and go through the experience with great pride, excitement and a tremendous amount of joy. A woman’s travails never ends with the delivery of the baby. The sleepless nights she often goes through when her man is glued to his pillow snoring, and her oversight of the baby’s growth and development make women the daring of every home. It is often said that it would take a six-figure salary to help hire a house help for the various tasks mothers perform in the home.
Thomas Edison once paid a glowing tribute to his mother: “I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I should never likely have become an investor. I was always a careless boy, and with a mother of a different mental caliber, I should have turned out badly. But her firmness, her sweetness, her goodness were potent powers to keep me in the right path. My mother was the making of me and her memory will always be a blessing to me.”
Edison’s tribute to her mother sums up why we should be singing praises of our mothers every single day. The mother, more than any other, not only influences the moral and spiritual life of her child, she is a constant companion in the child’s formative years.
As bad as a mother could be, the love and protection of her kids are always of paramount importance to her. They are wonderful human beings who remain solid background compliments to the fire and brimstone of any home.
A six-year old boy got separated from his mother in a supermarket. In his bewilderment, the boy ran around calling his mother’s name, Anne, Anne, Anne! The boy’s mother heard his son and quickly ran to him. “John,” said the woman, “you shouldn’t call me Anne, I am a mother to you.” “Yes, I know,” the boy replied, “this store is full of mothers and I didn’t want to sound vague.”
The world is full of mothers, but we have only one who is special. If your mother is around, don’t hesitate to appreciate what he has done for you. She is the pivot of the home and always the hero of the day. Let’s not forget this: Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing. But a woman who loves the Lord will be praised (Proverbs 31:30). Happy Mother’s Day to all women!
