| ST AIDENS - MOTHERS DAY |
| A Baby Asks God A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you." The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy." Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak." "And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray." "Who will protect me?" God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life." "But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore." God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you." At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name." "You will simply call her, "Mom." |
| Mother's Day Facts Excerpted from Let's Read! Mother's Day ranks as the third most popular holiday in the world, after Christmas and Easter. Long ago people in England honoured their mothers on a day called "Mothering Sunday." The special flower for the day is a carnation. Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) was the founder of Mother's Day in the United States. It was her own mother's idea, and Anna carried it out. President Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day to be on the second Sunday in May. We take this day to honour good mothers everywhere, and to bring families together. |
| Beautiful motherhood To children, no one in the whole world is more beautiful than their own loving mothers. Young children don't think of their mothers in terms of fashion sense, great taste in jewelry, or perfect hair and nails. They also don't notice stretch marks or gray hairs. Their little minds are oblivious to those things that tend to skew adults' perceptions and expectations regarding beauty, so they're actually better judges of what makes a woman truly beautiful. Where do children find beauty?—In the eyes that convey pride in their achievements, in the lips that encourage and instruct, in the kisses that make small hurts bearable, in the soothing voice that puts them back to sleep after a bad dream, in the wrap-around love of a soft warm hug. Where does such beauty come from?—With motherhood comes self-sacrifice, but from self-sacrifice comes humility, from humility comes grace, and from grace comes true beauty. A mother embodies life, love, and purity in the giving of herself to her children, and in these she is a reflection of God's love for His children. This is why I believe that nothing makes a woman more beautiful than motherhood. (Saskia Smith is a full-time volunteer with the Family International in Taiwan.) |
| Motherhood as God Sees it God's idea of a virtuous woman is also His idea of a good mother. Proverbs 11:16 Proverbs 12:4 Proverbs 19:14b Proverbs 31:10-31 A godly mother shines in the home and with her children. Proverbs 14:1a Proverbs 31:27 1 Timothy 3:11 A godly mother brings love and harmony to the home. 1 Corinthians 16:14 Colossians 2:2 Titus 2:4 1 Peter 4:8 A good mother applies discipline when needed and isn't overindulgent. Proverbs 19:18 Proverbs 22:15 Proverbs 29:15b A good mother imparts godly values to her children through God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:7 Deuteronomy 31:12-13 Proverbs 22:6a John 21:15b Examples of motherly love: Hagar with Ishmael: Genesis 21:15-16 Moses' parents: Exodus 1:22; 2:1-2; Hebrews 11:23 Hannah with Samuel: 1 Samuel 1:22-28 King Solomon and the two mothers: 1 Kings 3:23-27 The Shunammite woman and Elisha: 2 Kings 4:17-20,27 The Canaanite woman pleads with Jesus to heal her son: Matthew 15:22-28 Mary at the cross of Jesus: John 19:17,18,25 |
| Thank You, Mothers A mother's love is one of the best examples of My love for My children, because a godly mother loves unconditionally, continually, and despite the circumstances. It is a special love that I place in each mother's heart because I knew that through the love that mothers have for their children, all of you would better understand My love. You may feel incapable in your task as a mother. You see your faults and know that you aren't perfect. But, oh, there is so much beauty surrounding a mother! You mothers resemble Me in the way you unselfishly give, sometimes without seeming to receive much in return, and in the way you pray for your children and support their dreams. I knew when I gave you children that there would be times of disappointment, desperation, and heartbreak, but I also knew that there would be times of great joy and love beyond measure, and that in your children you would find much of the meaning to your life. Being a mother requires a lot, but it also has its rewards—the joy of holding a newborn, the smile of a little child, the happy moments shared as a family, the appreciation and respect shown by your grown child, and the love exchanged all along the way. These and many more are My blessings for all that you give up to be a mother. And one day here in Heaven you will receive the ultimate reward for all that you have given. It will be the greatest family reunion ever, untarnished by tears or earthly limitations, where unveiled love will envelop you. In that moment you will experience the rewards of motherhood to the full. |
| That Wonderful Thing Called Mother - QUOTES A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. —Tenneva Jordan The best medicine in the world is a mother's kiss. —Anonymous Mama was my greatest teacher—a teacher of compassion, love, and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love. —Stevie Wonder To a child's ear, "mother" is magic in any language. —Arlene Benedict Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all. —Oliver Wendell Holmes A mother is the truest friend we have when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. —Washington Irving God sees us through our mothers' eyes and rewards us for our virtues. —Ganeshan Venkatarman Mother is the bank where we deposit all our hurts and worries. —Unknown My mother's love for me was so great I have worked hard to justify it. —Marc Chagall No influence is so powerful as that of the mother. —Sarah Josepha Hale The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws. —Barbara Kingsolver Mothers are instinctive philosophers. —Harriet Beecher Stowe A good mother is worth hundreds of schoolmasters. —George Herbert The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom. —Henry Ward Beecher Mother-love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. —Unknown A mother loves her children even when they least deserve to be loved. —Kate Samperi Mother is the one we count on for the things that matter most of all. —Katharine Butler Hathaway A mother understands what a child does not say. —Jewish proverb All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her. —George Washington The noblest calling in the world is that of a mother. True motherhood is the most beautiful of all arts, the greatest of all professions. She who can paint a masterpiece or write a book that will influence millions deserves the plaudits and admiration of mankind, but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters whose immortal souls will be exerting an influence throughout the ages, long after paintings shall have faded and books and statues shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give. —David O. McKay Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling of trust and stability. She is their earth. She is the one they can count on for the things that matter most of all. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their warmth and their health and their shelter; she is the one they want to be near when they cry. She is the only person in the whole world in a whole lifetime who can be these things to her children. There is no substitute for her. Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children's hands from anybody else's clothes. Only to touch her skirt or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better. —Katharine Butler Hathaway Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. — Proverbs 31:10,25-26,28,30 |
| Unconstrained motherly love It was an unseasonably hot, humid June day on the East Coast of the United States. Summer had enfolded us in her sticky arms, and the kids at Calvert Country School had decided that the most appropriate activity of the day was cooling off in the lawn sprinkler system. Three friends and I, all part of the Family International, had been invited to this school for mentally and physically challenged children to participate in their annual graduation barbeque. We dressed up as clowns and spent the afternoon mingling, laughing, chatting, passing out balloon sculptures, and painting faces. A highlight of my day was meeting five-year-old Melissa and her mother, Shirley. Alma, one of our expert face painters, was giving Melissa an orange-and-black tiger face, while Shirley sat on a chair behind her and gently held her arms to keep her from squirming. Melissa, a lovely little dark-haired autistic girl, always seemed to be looking off to the distance with a blank expression—always, that is, except when she turned to look up into her mother's face. God gives us a chance to feel His love in a very special way through our mothers. "Pretty girl!" her mother repeatedly cooed when Melissa looked up at her for reassurance, and Melissa soaked up the love and approval with expressions of total joy. The tenderness and total acceptance that Melissa's mother communicated to her daughter had my eyes misting up. Here I had come as a volunteer to give encouragement, smiles, and approval to each child I interacted with, and I found myself unexpectedly moved by this beautiful example of motherly love. I saw other beautiful mother-child relationships during my afternoon at Calvert Country School, and was touched by the selflessness and unconditional love that seemed so much a part of each of the parents and counselors there. The experience left me with a renewed desire to communicate that unconstrained motherly love to my own young son each and every day. God gives us a chance to feel His love in a very special way through our mothers. Happy Mother's Day! (Ana Alcasas is a full-time volunteer with the Family International in the U.S.) |
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