Mother's Day 2009

This photo is of my own dearly loved Mother, who passed away in 2002. My fabulous father who turned 90 years old today and I was lucky enough to visit this morning as he started to work on his large garden. We shared a wonderful morning with him today! In the photo is also my “Cowboy” brother, Mickey, who I will be visiting this Saturday. And the little girl in the photo is.......you guessed it! Me! Wow, time just flies doesn't it???

Such a special Mother's Day this is for me since I am fortunate enough to be a mother, a role in my life that I truly treasured. My husband, Larry and I were both lucky enough to have wonderful, loving mothers. The kind of mothers that many children of today never know. I want to thank God from the bottom of my heart for giving us our mothers and our grandmothers who helped form both of us, to become the people we are today.

In the spirit of mother's day I would like to read a couple of things which I did not write but feel are appropriate for our day today. The first is a poem written by our Uncle Bernard Lupole, who passed away on January 13th of this year, one day before his 92nd birthday. Larry's Dad's oldest brother.

"Memories"

I sat in my chair by the fireplace

Watching the embers die,

And as they flickered and went out

I thought of days gone by.

It was not many years ago

My mother sat with me,

But God has taken her away

till dawns eternity.

Her picture over the fireplace

Me, to her bosom pressed,

Was taken many years ago

I as a babe was dressed.

If I could have my mother

Right here with me today,

I am sure I'd never laugh and scoff

When mother tried to pray

Mother, mother, mother,

You're all the world to me

With the help of Christ, I'll live the life

Until your face I see.

This is another writing that I found that reflects on us Christian mothers. John Killinger's book, Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise includes the following affirmation:

I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,

who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary.

I believe in the love Mary gave her Son,

that caused her to follow him in his ministry

and stand by his cross as he died.

I believe in the love of all mothers,

and its importance in the lives of the children they bear.

It is stronger than steel, softer than down,

and more resilient than a green sapling on the hillside.

It closes wounds, melts disappointments,

and enables the weakest child to stand tall

and straight in the fields of adversity.

I believe that this love, even at its best,

Is only a shadow of the love of God,

a dark reflection of all that we can expect of him,

both in this life and the next.

And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights

in the world is a mother who lets this greater love

flow through her to her child,

blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch

and the tears of her joy.