A Mother's Commitment

7:00 a.m.

‘T was a bright Sunday morning, just woke up, thanked the Lord for the day and said a simple prayer. My mind then flashed back to the chapters of the novel I’ve read just before I drifted to dreamland last night. I jumped out of bed then had to do simple chores in our room like swept the floor, fixed the books I had spread while searching for facts to justify the claims I am currently discussing in the writing of my thesis, washed the spoon and mug I used late last night and scribbled some notes I found important.

8:00 a.m.

While preparing for church, my mobile phone was busy signaling me since an hour before of messages it was receiving re: mother’s day greetings and quotations – my inbox was then full so I had to choose the best messages and kept them and erased the other ones. I wasn’t able to send back thank you’s anymore because I got empty load after a few sent messages…. lol.

11 a.m.

I was back in my quarters, nourished with the message in church, digested and reflected upon it.

I agree with the message delivered by the pastor that: “A mother’s love is a reflection of God’s love to us.” A mother’s love to his child is unconditional just like the unconditional love of God to us, His children. If a child gets wayward, the mother is so patient to guide him/her to be good and remain on the right road. This picture therefore demonstrates the faithfulness and love of Jesus Christ, our Lord to us His children keeping us on the right path.

There are many quotes describing who a mother is especially of her being a superwoman amidst the non-appreciations and all. And like many others, the heroine in my life is my mother. I’m the eldest of eleven children in the family and I witnessed how our mother sacrificed just to keep our home safe and comfortable. There were many super-duper prickly stages the family faced though yet she emotionally, physically and spiritually defied these circumstances with strength and bravery.

Today, when my younger siblings and I gather during occasions, we always talk about our mother especially about her emotional strength. We sometimes wonder where she gets all her strength in keeping her whole. I would always say that if I were in her shoes, I would have been broken down into pieces long time ago before other siblings came into the family. Nevertheless, I’m very thankful that I have a mother like her – a committed and a super mother.

4:00 p.m.

I glanced at the little clock on my table that told me that in just an hour more the day would wrap up its events to add to its files of history and I hadn’t called home yet to greet or say hi to my mother. I wondered though if my younger siblings have done it however I received greetings from some of them earlier this day.

My First Grade School Teacher

It was my mother, though an elementary graduate, who became my first teacher. She was the one who first taught me how to read and write my ABC’s and 123’s before I enrolled in Grade 1. I never attended a kindergarten school where most children learn first their alphabets and 123’s. My mother was so patient to monitor my progress in school. When I wasn’t able to cope with my lessons, she would find time every night before we were sent to bed to teach me on my home works and guide me to read more, write more and count more even if she was so tired of the demands of the day. She was also my first storyteller. She told me many children’s stories and when more siblings came into the family I helped her repeat those stories to my younger bothers and sisters.
Years after I graduated from college, was already in my mid-twenties and was always away from home, many times, albeit funny, there were moments when I would just reminisce my childhood years and remember the doting of my mother, I would long and cry for her in bed before I sleep, much more when I got sick.

Mother Stories

Right now, I’m currently reading a story along with the writing of my MS thesis, tempted, and I can’t forego because I just borrowed the pocketbook (hehehe), about a single mother who got to be brave and face the challenges of being one even if her current situation was from her stupidity. When she learned that she was pregnant, she had to tell the man who fathered it. Three times, the man convinced her for an abortion but she never liked the idea. She then gave birth to a boy who was diagnosed after two years of a speech defect. She courageously faced all the tests in life to raise her son in the most normal possible way.

Relative to this story, when I was surfing the Youtube for music yesterday, I came across a Christian singer’s testimony about he being an adoptee. He described that there are three kinds of a mother. First, a mother in the normal sense. Second, a mother who takes care of her pregnancy and gives up the baby for adoption, even if how painful, because she knows she cannot fully give what her child needs. Third, a mother who opts for an abortion. This singer was in tears while telling his story that he was still very thankful to his birthmom whoever and wherever she is because she opted to give up her son for adoption providing him the chance to live.

Celebration

Many to honor every mother celebrated this day’s event. The West and many countries it influenced including us in the Orient and every church regardless of denomination had a share of it. Many gifts I know were given and opened and many enjoyed this notable day.

Commitment

Becoming a mother is a lifetime commitment that pulls all the instincts of motherhood out to reality. And it is this commitment that fuels her to have the energy that words sometimes cannot even express of how she becomes a superwoman for all seasons. Nothing can describe her compassion, her sacrificial love, her strength, her beauty and all that keeps her a hero in every home.

Quotes

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. Washington Irving.

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Exodus 20:12

"As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children." 1 Thessalonians 2:7