A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. (Proverbs 15:20)
Sorry Mummy for all the times I’ve been foolish, which averages about 3 times a day. And Lord, have mercy for not respecting and honoring those people who you have set as your representatives on this earth.
So today is Mother’s Day. And I woke up to everybody’s Tweets and Facebook posts saying “Happy Mother’s Day” followed by a tag, making me realize an oddly high amount of our parents have Facebooks now. Anyway, as I conformed to the societal pressures of my peers and decided that I, too, needed to write something about my mother. After I wrote all that I wanted to write about in my Facebook status box, Facebook proceeded to tell me that I had exceeded their character limit threefold. At this point, it was better to blog about this, than to actually cut out everything I wanted to say because of stupid character limits.
So this one is to you, Mummy.
“One thing you’ll never truly understand is the love of a mother, and there’s nothing stronger than that, and nothing that can break it in this world. One of the curses of being a man is never truly experiencing that, all we can do is receive it from our mothers.” -Pappa
Okay, so I’m cleaning up my dad’s lack of understanding how verb tense works, but this is still what he said. The reason this is profound for me is the fact that my father is very much a guy who expects me to learn things through his actions and my own experiences. I can only remember three lessons my dad has sat me down and verbally taught me. He’s taught me: 1) Be honest at all costs. That will make you a disliked person in this world, but the truth will set you free. 2) The above lesson 3) When you’re wife’s pregnant, you listen to whatever she says, no questions asked.
Yeah, the last one is a little weird, but I’m sure you fathers out there would probably agree with it. That lesson above, though, sums up what a mother is to a boy. She’s everything to us: our model of what a teacher is supposed to be, our example of what we look for in a wife, our personal prayer warrior who teaches us how to truly pray with tears and a sincere heart.
And that’s who my mother has been to me. She’s been the ultimate example of somebody who has learned to love like Christ, unconditionally and without fail. I couldn’t even count the times I have failed her has a son, let alone the countless times others that she loves have failed her. Yet she continues to give, give, give, and then give some more. And she never asks for anything in return. She texts me reminders to pray for people, but never for herself, she calls me to make sure I’m eating even though I’m 21, and she continually cares for me throughout my countless basketball-related injuries.
The one thing about her that stood out to me, was how she refused to leave my father’s bedside when he was in the hospital. She’d be in an uncomfortable hospital chair for over 36 hours at a time. As she sat there, all she did was take care of my father the way he deserved to be treated, like the man of her house, her Prince Charming, like the person she has shared everything with for the last 23 years, not as a patient in a hospital. And when she wasn’t tending to him, she was praying for him, at his bedside, without ceasing, as St. Paul tells us to do. We had to forcibly tell her to go home before she would leave his side. Even today, all I can pray is that one day I, too, can marry a woman as dedicated and full of love and prayer as my mother.
I thank God for providing me with with most loving, beautiful, and greatest mother ever. She never asks for anything in return, but I hope that I can, one day, be the son she’s always wanted.
Happy Mother’s Day to the only 5′ 2″ lady who can control two 6 feet monsters, a 55-year-old man, and run after a 10-year-old punk. To the strongest person I know, physically, mentally, and more importantly, spiritually. The only reason she’s able to deal with what she deals with everyday, is because she’s learned to love like Christ. And I pray that I, too, can, maybe, come close to how she loves.
Happy Mother’s day, Mummy!! I can’t wait to see you and bother you for food next week 🙂
Smile and Nod 