mother's day ~ a surprise gift

    "If the mother is educated then her children will be well taught. When the mother is wise, then will the children be led into the path of wisdom. If the mother be religious she will show her children how they should love God. If the mother is moral she guides her little ones into the ways of uprightness.

    It is clear therefore that the future generation depends on the mothers of today."

    
 ~ Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 161

i woke up yesterday not expecting anything special for Mother's Day.  my husband is out of town and the kids are not inundated with media marketing here in Ghana so they forget these kinds of things.

all i felt throughout the day was gratitude for our family.  we have built a foundation of love that surpasses all of the temporary tests of life and it made me deeply happy and thankful..

my heart was focused on bringing joy to the mamas down the road by baking them a heart-shaped cake to share.  i found myself thinking of my Xhosa mama friends whose lives are full of hardships and i sent them all an sms to wish them a happy Mother's Day.  my heart was full of thankfulness for my mom, my step-mom, and my dear friends -- all from whom i have been nurtured and loved, supported and inspired, uplifted and enriched.  to me, it was a day of feeling interconnected with all mothers in the world and remembering the exalted station we have in the sight of God.  i called my mom and step-mom, wrote a few friends and reached out to many of my African sisters..it was a good day.

tonight i received an unexpected surprise from my 12 year old son: a belated Mother's Day card.  he decided to make me a card with these words inside because he didn't remember yesterday:

i couldn't be more thankful for my son's reflections today.  what a gift from his soul to mine.  certainly i have many moments of doubting my words of good counsel, or regretting my tone of voice, and becoming impatient when the moments become overwhelming.  these words are a sign of how the love and grace of God is all-pervasive in our lives as we continually strive to be better as mothers and fathers.