As we concluded the celebration of the mother and move on into the preparation for the close of school, the beginning of summer, and eventually the honoring of the father, I am challenged to reflect upon the attributes that even gave rise to an actual holiday honoring the matriarch. Over the past few decades, we have found a reason to deem every day some sort of holiday or day of recognition for a unique situation or cause or role in society. I mean did you know that today is National Pack Rat Day? And let me scold you as you most likely missed the appropriate solemnness required on May 3rd for Lumpy Rug Day? The visibility of light sabers in my area on May 4 was low and discouraging on Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be with You)! May seems to also be a month embracing the straying from dietary discipline with May 5 - National Hoagie Day, May 6 - No Diet Day, May 11 - Eat What you Want Day, and May 15 - National Chocolate Chip Day!
The numerous additional holidays are entertaining and fun. They create silly unity across cultural divides. I mean, really, everybody loves chocolate chip cookies (almost)! That is the desired purpose of many of these holidays – to create awareness that we are not all as different as we may seem. Yet, that was the original design of the primary days of celebration before the 5 designated holidays a day exploded. Anna Jarvis is credited with the elevation of a national awareness day for Mom and it became an actual nationally recognized holiday in 1914 (the year WWI was revving up). However, Jarvis would later seek to remove this holiday because of the over-commercialization of the honor. This same thing has happened with Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. Even birthdays now are insane. As a mom, there is an enormous pressure to compete with every other little kid’s birthday themes and still have money in the bank to buy cereal for the week after. And also as a mother, there is the same pressure to educate my children on the over-commercialization of holidays so they are not disappointed later in life when their birthday might be an extra bowl of ramen and using the free cookie coupon they saved from a college bible study.
And it’s back to mom…did you catch that. There are so many things that are vital to parenting! I completely understand the elevated prescriptions of Prozac, Zoloft, and yes, even Ambien.
Society says…
Make sure you breastfeed because they will need to develop your immunities and yada, yada
Use cloth diapers to protect the environment that will one day be theirs
Stay at home so they have a better preparation for school with your one-on-one time
Put them in a quality childcare facility so that they are prepared for school
Take them on adventures so they are aware of the creation and all there is
Take them to this performance, this party, this camp, this class…
Pay for clothes that will endure the rough and tumble
Make sure to get expensive pictures that will last
Let them explore activities until they find the one that is right for them
In each activity, they can’t just have the bottom of the line apparel, they need the good stuff…otherwise how will they know if this is the right activity for them…
Get them in the right school for academics or athletics or said other extracurricular
Let them be little – so if they don’t like it, let them quit, they are just kids anyway
Respect only those who respect you
Fight for your rights
Accept those who are different
God says…
Teach them chores…responsibility to the greater good and selflessness
Teach them to give, to share, to sacrifice – loving others above themselves and receiving that satisfaction
Model for them strength, dignity, self-respect, and self-discipline so they have an idea of how to carry themselves when you are not there to verbally coach them
Model for them wisdom and discernment so they can make decisions that are beneficial to themselves and to their future when you are not there to coach them
Teach them what true joy and happiness is – and where to draw the line on celebration
Teach them reverence AND respect for all of God’s creation regardless if it appears to be deserving
Honor the Sabbath – there is a day that He asks us to acknowledge reserved for corporate worship. Your magnitude of the extent of that is personal and between you and God, but know that your kids are watching and learning
Honor thy Father and Mother – how you interact with your parents is how they will interact with you if not a little less when they are your age
Take risks – teach them to not be afraid, for He is the Lord our God, what can MAN do to us
Fight for the weak and protect the needy
Do not covet – do they hear you saying that you want what the Jones’ have? They will in turn want what their classmates’ have…
GO – be willing to pick up and leave if he calls you to something greater. The greatest tragedy in today’s society is the lack of obedience to follow after the calling of the Lord. If people would follow, this nation would transform.
We honored moms just recently, and it is questionable as to whether it is too commercialized like every other holiday. If we get down to the root of the role of mom, the tug and pull from all angles of society, than we can’t help but honor her. She must constantly be on the practice of discernment. She must constantly be actively on her guard ready to defend, fight for, and sacrifice for her family and friends. She must be aware of jealousy before it consumes her and takes her to a place dishonoring to God. She must maintain relationships with past and present and future with awareness of the impact that they make on not only her own person, but on her family. She must be bold and embrace the wind with confident strides while maintaining dignity and poise. She must know the father’s voice and listen clearly as it calls to her above the chatter of the world and as He calls, she MUST GO.
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