Tuesday, May 1, 2018

A Note on Mother's Day

Growing up and attending school in West Virginia from the mid-1950s through the mid-1960s (wow, where did the time go?). provided a reasonable measure of West Virginia history in the classroom (a required course then, but not so much now). As part of the curriculum, students read about Anna Jarvis, a native of Grafton, West Virginia. Anna was recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day in 1908.  Mainly because of Ms. Jarvis's efforts, Mother's Day observancesbegan to spread to a number of cities and states until President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 officially set aside the second Sunday in May for the holiday.
The Mother's Day holiday quickly became a strong stimulus of consumerism.  However, commercialization was not Anna’s intent. The death of her mother in 1905 inspired Anna to simply want a day established where children could celebrate, appreciate, and recognize, not all mothers collectively, but their individual mothers, the best mothers they would ever know.  That’s why she accentuated the singular “Mother’s Day” as opposed to the plural “Mothers’ Day”.
For me, Mother’s Day is much more than cards, flowers, and/or dining out.  Those expressions are certainly okay; but, the most important part to celebrate is “mother”.  I was fortunate to be blessed with a special mother.  She was a great example of a mother faithful in both her belief and teaching me (as expressed in 2 Timothy 1:5).  Momma said: “Prayer is the shortest path to God. Travel it often.”

Here are a few more Bible verses that help remind me of how important mothers are:

John 19:25-27 (These verses demonstrate Jesus’ love and care for his mother, an example of how we should treat our mothers.)

Isaiah 49:15(This passage describes a mother’s endless compassion, never forgetting their children.)

Exodus 20:12(We are to always honor our father and mother.)

Leviticus 19:3(God commands that we respect our mother and father, to obey all of God’s commandments.)

An inspirational short story for Mother’s Day (theholidayspot.com)
A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.  As he got out of his car, he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb, sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.  But, I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.”
The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me.  I’ll buy you a rose.”
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.  As they were leaving, he offered the girl a ride home.  She said, “Yes, please!  You can take me to my mother.”
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

-Mickey Grubb (Adopted at the age of 3)

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