An Ode to Moms – Whatever Way You Got Here, You Are Invaluable

Proverbs 1:8-9: “Never forget your mother’s instructions. For their insight will bring you success, adorning you with grace-filled thoughts and giving you reins to guide your decisions.”

There is a beautiful park near our house that our children love to visit in the summer. We usually have our lunch out there most days because they love to splash around and get soaked in the water park on those hot summer days. This park also has a stunning garden that features a variety of beautiful flowers.

I took a stroll over to that park yesterday and couldn’t help but notice all the flowers that are starting to bloom. Different shapes, sizes and colors but all so very beautiful and lovely in their own unique way. It reminded me of how mothers come in various shapes and sizes with beautiful stories that are unique to them. Some come into their role of motherhood by adoption, some by fostering, some by surrogacy, some by bearing children naturally and some are mother figures in Churches, schools, communities and workplaces. Whatever way you got here, you’re a Mom and you are invaluable.

You are seen, you are appreciated, you are loved, and you are irreplaceable!

We don’t get to hear it enough as Moms so I thought I would remind you, in case you forgot, that you are doing a great job Mom!

Did you ever wonder about how Mother’s Day came about? When the first Mother’s Day was ever celebrated and by whom? Traditions vary from country to country as Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world.

In Ethiopia, Mother’s Day celebrations last three days! This 3-day celebration is called Antrosht and involves the whole family gathering together and enjoying traditional Ethiopian meals together.
In France, Mother’s Day is usually the last Sunday in May. It began in 1806 as a way to honor and celebrate mothers of large families during a time of low birth rates.
In the UK, Mother’s Day celebrations date as far back as the mid-16th century. Taking place on the fourth Sunday of Lent (three Sundays before Easter).
In the USA, this holiday was founded by a woman named Anna Jarvis. She was inspired by her mother who had passed on earlier and wanted to honor mothers and the sacrifices they make. Anna organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration in a West Virginia Methodist Church in May 1908. Anna then campaigned to make this a national holiday honoring motherhood, even going as far a establishing the Mother’s Day International Association. Her hard work finally paid off when in 1914 President Wilson officially established Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May. Anna’s vision wasn’t a commercial one but one where families take the time to pay tribute to their Moms in personal ways. An intimate occasion for a daughter or son to honor their own mother whom they knew and loved.

No matter the day your country celebrates Mother’s Day, the message remains the same: to honor motherhood and the positive influence of mothers and mother figures in society.

The Bible has so many wonderful things to say about mothers. It acknowledges the wisdom, strength, protectiveness and nurturing attributes of mothers. One of the highest compliments paid to us mothers is God likening His very nature to that of a mother.

As a comforter:

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I (God) comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” Isaiah.66:13

As caring, faithful and compassionate:

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I (God) will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15

As we celebrate the mothers in our lives today and everyday, I penned this poem as an expression of gratitude to everyone who holds this God ordained office of motherhood.

An Ode to Mothers
By Rachel Matembe

You are a deliberate creation of God!
The excellent handiwork of an excellent God!
Unique!

Standing in the call of God on your life,
Your beauty excels and transcends the physical.
An inner glow making you distinct and radiant.

Though times may change many things;
The warmth that your love brings, is never changed.

Thoughts of you are memories old, Yet ever new.
For treasured deep within my heart,
Are those in which you’ve been a part.

And so dear mother,
I send these loving thoughts your way.

May the sun shine on all your dreams.
May the birds sing to your heart’s tune.
May a long and blessed life be your reward,
And may God keep you safely in His hand.

Click image below to download poem