Happy Mother’s Day

MOMMY! Mama! Mom! Whatever you call her, Sunday is her day, a special 24 hours set aside to pay tribute to all she has done for the family and the nation.
Gifts, a meal together, spending time together, a card and if she is far, a call.
They will put a smile on her face and touch her heart.
But nothing will touch a mother’s heart more than a simple “I love you” from the family.
How does one describe a mother? Simple. Her love is the deepest, her caring selfless, and she protects you like no other. English writer Rudyard Kipling even went as far as to say that, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers”.
A mother’s work is never done.
It’s clear that mothers operate on a 24/7 schedule, attending to individual family members while keeping an eye on the overall state of the household.
We all should be reminded of how much is expected, and too often taken for granted, when a woman becomes a mother.
The heart of that work, of course, involves the children.
Worrying comes with the territory, no matter how old one’s offsprings may be.
Motherhood doesn’t end when a child hits 18.
Some say that “women are the makers of the home, the nation and the world” and that wraps up the importance of having women in key decision-making positions.
One thing for sure, a mother’s wisdom, years of taking on life’s challenges to nature and protect the family cannot be measured against knowledge gained from education. It’s the mother’s natural instinct of being a woman that shines out the most.
A favourite is found in the Bible of a 22-line poem from the last chapter of Proverbs, The wife of noble character, which is meant to be a tangible expression of the book’s celebrated virtue of wisdom.
As a poem, Proverbs 31 should not be interpreted prescriptively as a job description for all women. Its purpose is to celebrate wisdom-in-action, not to instruct women everywhere to get married, have children, and take up the loom. The chapter speaks of the worth of a good wife to her husband, the manual labour that she does, her fulfilment of responsibilities to those who need her, her ability to provide for her family, and her wisdom in caring for herself so she can share her strength with others.
The wife in Proverbs 31 isn’t afraid of work. She gets up in the morning and gets things done.
Another characteristic of wisdom is the grace to help others. The wife in Proverbs 31 ensures that those under her care receive what they need — food, clothing, protection. And she is able to serve others out of the excess of her work and the leaning of her heart. She has so internalised her role as a provider that it extends past her immediate responsibilities and into the community.
And what are we getting at? Everyone makes a big deal about Mother’s Day, as they should. Without moms, where would any of us be?
As much as dads are important, mothers are literally the ones who give us our life and do most of the heavy lifting during the early years of parenting.
Which is why moms really deserve to be honoured every day, and not just with an anaemic clump of carnations once a year.
It should certainly not be the only occasion in which we offer her thanks for all she has done. She deserves so much more than that.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.