Mother's Day Reflections

Jephte and Pastor Hakine met with Max Manning of Global Missions Ministries this week to discuss arrangements for the food he's shipped to Haiti for us. We are so grateful for his willingness to share Kids Against Hunger food with us! We still need an additional $1,800 to cover the cost of shipping. Would you please consider making a donation to meet this need? Thank you!!!

Pastor Hakine flew into Boston last night. This morning, Pastor Edon preached in his stead at the church in St. Etienne. Several of the men from Thozin accompanied him. I'm loving the camaraderie we're seeing among these men.

We had a busy week in the clinic. We're so blessed to have a great local staff of medical professionals to care for our students and neighbors!

I love seeing the hands on learning taking place in the classrooms at MOHI...

...AND in the library!!! Lego's anyone???

Happy Mother's Day to all you amazing moms!

William Ross Wallace put it so eloquently, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Your influence on your children can make a lasting impact on humanity. AND you get to enjoy such precious moments along the way.

Mother's Day has changed meaning to me over the years. Throughout my childhood, Mother's Day meant that I got to go to a store with one of my brothers or my father. In my teen years Mother's Day would remind me of the conflict I felt with my mother.

As a young adult, struggling with infertility, Mother's Day reminded me of what I wanted to be and couldn't seem to quite achieve. When I did finally achieve motherhood, it was brief as I lost both my first and second babies. During those years Mother's Day represented great pain and grief.

With the births of Alexis and then AJay, Mother's Day became a day to hope for a break from the sometimes overwhelming responsibilities of caring for our children, but it also became a day of thanksgiving for me. That yearning for children to share my life with had been fulfilled and I would be forever grateful.

Fast forward to today, when Mother's Day has another meaning. Today I take great joy in reflecting upon my daughter being a mother. She not only bore the most beautiful child you could imagine (Yes, totally biased), but watching her love, care for, teach in word and in deed, lovingly correct her little boy - I admire the good work the Lord has begun in her.

This is also my first Mother's Day in which I actually know who my birth mother was. I could say I'm a bit conflicted. I think it's sad that I had no memories of her and never had the opportunity to meet her after I went into a foster home at the age of 2. On the other hand, I'm so glad to have found my siblings, nieces, nephews, and the aunt who named me. I'm glad I get to meet my mother through their memories of her. And I think it's pretty neat that I look so much like her.

Whatever this Mother's Day means to you, I pray that you would be aware of the Lord's presence with you today and that gratitude would flow out of you for the amazing grace He has extended to you and your loved ones.