Honoring Mothers Today

The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. She then began a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States. Jarvis’ holiday was adopted by other countries and now celebrated all over the world.

I don’t have space in one article to explain all of mom’s precious qualities but I’ll give a smidgen snapshot of this godly woman, whom God saw fit (in His miraculous mercy) to grant one undeserving daughter such as I.

Number one. She knew how to keep a quiet heart especially during catastrophes. Number two. She tended to the needs of her own household. That’ll preach. I recall she’d give neighbors help when needed. For instance, families in our community often needed a handout and she gave them food from our freezer. Furthermore, mom took in my two young (boy) cousins who faced foster care when their parents weren’t available.

I remember well how she sewed our (four children) clothes from bran sacks, made quilts for the winter, picked and made blackberry jelly every July, hoed and canned garden vegetables, fed cows, milked cows, killed pigs and stored the meat. She was the hardest worker I’ve ever known and I’m sweating just thinking about it. However, I think I could ring a chicken’s neck if I had too because she made it look so easy. Ha!

You know, life is lived forward—but understood backwards. I have the rich opportunity now to understand (a bit more) looking back over her life as she went home to glory a couple of years ago. She was widowed by age 41 with my dad dying when I was fifteen. Frankly, I don’t realize the magnitude of all she endured. But, etched in my mind is how she constantly kept her focus on one ‘right’ important thing: that is, the Lord was first in her life.

And, oh Father God, bless all manner of mothers today—spiritual mothers, physical mothers, and mothers-to-be. May we seek You first in our lives.