A Mother’s Love
With Mother’s Day approaching us this month and with our new stay home act, it has brought a new appreciation for teachers. I’m a mom and a teacher, and I saw myself rise to the occasion and perform duties that I only get to work on in small increments. Assisting your children in a couple of hours of homework is one thing, but having to teach a lesson has taken on a new depth. I’ve found myself saying to myself, "I know you don’t act like this at school. So why am I getting all this negative feedback." My daughters have cried more at home with me teaching them than ever before. It’s been both rewarding and exhausting at the same time. It has been a sacrifice of my patience and peace of mind. People have often shared with me that I have the patience of Job. These last couple of weeks, I’ve seen more Peter then Job!
Parenting is rough and sacrifice is what we do for the common good. I’ve sacrificed so much for my children, but they are my children. If I don’t show them that I will put everything and anything before them then who will. It’s my responsibility to be that to them and for them. They are a product of what I created, and it’s my job to sacrifice. Just like Jesus was a sacrifice for us, we have to sacrifice things for them.
Let’s look at Mary the mother of Jesus. Her sacrifice started with the conception stage of Jesus’s life. She trusted the Holy Spirit, not knowing what Joseph would do once he found out that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. She knew that she was chosen by God to carry and nourish His son, Jesus. The sacrifice continued when she witnessed him dying on the cross to save the lives of others. As a mother, I don’t want to imagine the depth of that pain at all.
There is a parable in the Bible concerning King Solomon where he gave an order to saw a baby in half because he didn’t know which mother to believe. 1 Kings 3:16-28 reveals to us that the real mother of the boy was willing to give up her son to another so that his life would be spared.
Why do we sacrifice? We sacrifice because we love. A mother’s love causes the mother to make difficult decisions for their families. We may not understand why those choices were made, but trust me, they were made with their child(ren) in mind. Just like Mary and the woman in 1 Kings, women all around the world continue to make silent sacrifices for their children. They don't brag about what they give up, and in most cases, the child will never know all that the mother sacrificed on their behalf.
I want to salute all the mothers who continue to do their best to be good mothers to their children. Your sacrifice doesn't go unrecognized. You are seen. You are loved. You are valued. You are appreciated.
Happy Mother’s Day!