As most of you may know, and for those who don’t, let me give you a huge heads up so you don’t get into major trouble, this coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. So if you have forgotten, there is still time to make, buy or otherwise obtain a card and plan some other niceties for this Sunday. What you may not know is that the American Mother’s Day is just a little over 100 years old. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson, at the behest of Ann Jarvis, signed a declaration designating the second Sunday in May as the official Mother’s day. Actually, every state had already proclaimed it but Woodrow made it an official national holiday. The fact that it fell on a Sunday just made it easier. And while at least 84 other countries celebrate Mother’s day on the same day, almost as many celebrate it on some other day. And while in the US it’s “Mother’s Day” in many other countries it is “Mothers’ Day.” An important distinction. And there are several countries that rather than having a Mother’s day, have a generic “Women’s Day” instead.
So, with that lead in, let me tell you something about my own mother. Most people know that I have three brothers and no sisters which made my mother a definite minority in our home. While I was growing up she was barely 5 feet tall and maybe 100 pounds in the winter when she had her purse, boots, and jacket (she’s even smaller now). I think I was taller and outweighed her by the time I entered junior high. She had grown up in Washington DC during WWII which may be what gave her the mettle to survive the four of us. By the time the four of us had come around she already had a number of accomplishments wracked up. To this day I am still finding things out that I never knew about.
One of the things that most surprised me about my mother and one of the things she never mentioned was that in college she was the women’s fencing champion. My mother was a sword fighter! You’d never know it to look at her except maybe for the way she goes after flies with the flyswatter. She never misses. I asked her about it once and she told me in her usual way “I really wasn’t all that good.”
"Not all that good?” I replied, “You were the champion. That means you beat out everyone else. If you had been using a cutlass instead of an epee you would have left a trail of bodies in your wake.”
“Well, I never really learned to fence.” she said.
“Never learned to fence? You were the champion!” I repeated.
“But not because of what I could do, but because of what I couldn’t.” she said.
“Uh, I don’t think I’m following you there.” I replied.
“The only reason I did well is because I never learned to back up.” She said, now with a bit of a grin.
That’s my mom. Lots of other stories but that will do for now.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me in the future the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7-8
On the Calendar:
New Light Friday night at 7:15pm. What’s your take on Mom? Any good stories?
Sr. High Sunday School
Spirit West Coast June 12. with MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, Matthew West, Phil Wickham, NF, Blanca, Urban Rescue, For All Season. I’m definitely going!
Special important message:
I haven’t mentioned it before and it’s actually something really
important. We want to pray for you. If there is anything that you would
like us to pray about, please let us know. If you have something that
you would like someone in particular to pray about, please contact them
directly - their are e-mails below. And please know that anything you
ask us to pray about will remain confidential unless you tell us we can
share it.
Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com
Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com
Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com
Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net
Cheers!
Duane
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