After dinner on Mother’s Day a mother was washing the dishes when her teenage daughter wandered into the kitchen.
Horrified to see her mother at the sink, she exclaimed, “Oh, Mama, you shouldn’t have to do dishes on Mother’s Day.”
The mother was touched by this seeming thoughtfulness and was about to take off her apron and give it to her daughter when the daughter added….
“They’ll keep till tomorrow.”
This Mother’s Day take a moment to think of all the mothers in the world who are in need. There are millions of women in the world living on less than a dollar a day.
There are women in our country and our world who are wondering how they are going to feed or diaper their children from day to day. There are children who need medical attention that their parents may not be able to afford.
I reflect many times on the women in Haiti who hold out their babies to me so I will take them back to America with me. They do this not because of a lack of love for their child. They do this because they love that baby so very, very much they will give it away so that it might have a life.
While it is wonderful that we set aside one day to especially honor mothers, let us reflect for a moment on all of the things mothers do for us.
First of all, they bring us into the world through a biological miracle that is amazing, but certainly not easy. Then they spend the next two decades preparing meals, solving problems, kissing boo-boos, helping us learn everything from how to brush our teeth to how to navigate the difficulties of the “real world.”
They spend the rest of their lives fretting and worrying about us. They care for us in a way that is beyond words. They sacrifice for us in ways beyond words.
Even after they have passed on, and Mother’s Day can be especially difficult for those of us who have lost mothers, their influence is so powerful that it stays with us always.
I propose that one day is not enough. One day is nice, but it is not enough.
