So it's another Mother's Day in yet another year. So what else is new? Of course celebrations to honour the ones who birth and nurture life are in order. And it's always nice to have a reason to celebrate. A world that's now so much in crisis would do well to celebrate the right things, and Mother's Day obviously ranks right up there in the list.
Still personally although I appreciate all the grand gestures of being appreciated on this special day dedicated to mothers, I would rather be remembered everyday. The gifts and well-wishes are certainly nice but it's the before and after that special day which really matters. There's this cute cartoon of a mom being surrounded and hugged by her kids with the caption Mothers Day, and right next to it is the same mom sitting all alone with the caption Other Days. Point obviously taken. I am blessed my children remember me on days other than Mother's Day.
The church as usual had a special Mother's Day programme with the usual photo shoot, cake cutting and gifts. This year's gifts were all very feminine stuff - a flower clip , scented candle and jewellery box. Just as I was starting the dinner prep, a call came in. It was an unknown number. I normally don't answer such calls as from past experience, it's always scam. But inexplicably I answered this one. And I am so glad I did, as the caller identified himself as the son of someone I knew from long ago. He went to the same school as my son back when they were still kids. That's indeed a very long time back, at least 15 years. I remember on Sundays, with his mom's consent, I would pick him up to attend church with my own 3 young ones in tow. As the song goes, those were the days....
With the passing of years, they all stopped following me. I also kinda lost touch with the boy's family, though they lived in the same neighborhood. Now and then I would message the mom on festive occasions. Like all kids, hers and mine grew up and moved on with their own lives. I guess that's the familiar story of the "empty-nest syndrome" in most families; particularly of this generation.
It was indeed a very pleasant surprise for me to hear the manly voice of this once-upon-a-neighborhood kid, wishing me a Happy Mother's Day . When he explained he always considered me his "other mom" I was so so touched. But what he said next really moved me to tears. He said he wanted to do it, because he didn't want to miss the chance of wishing me whilst there's still time. For he had experienced the regret of being "too late" when someone he wanted to wish had already passed away. Indeed that's the very reason why I personally don't care much for "official celebration days" for this or that person or group of persons. Surely we should always be appreciating and appreciative of the people who mean something in our lives, not just on 1 official date in the calendar.
I asked the young man if he remembered those days when I brought him to church and whether he still had Jesus in his heart. His answer was the best mother's day gift for me - Yes, and Yes. Truly how faithful God is. I am ashamed to admit I had "forgotten" this family - a single mom, handling 4 kids on her own. But thank God, He never forgot. And this one little boy who grew up without a human father but who attended Sunday school didn't forget the One who is called Abba Father in heaven.
It's all too easy to forget and literally drift away from God, when we are navigating through the seas of our life. I see some sail so far off ,whether by choice or by circumstance, and it seems impossible for them to return to that eternal safe harbour . Still as I once told a dearly beloved ...You can walk out on God, but God never walks out on you.
And so it is, this Mother's Day, I feel so blessed...to be remembered and called mother by someone not of my own flesh and blood, not of my race. Yet we are truly 1 family, because of the love of 1 Abba Father who joined us together through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Praise God for His faithfulness.
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" - Ephesians 2:19
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