Mothers- A Great Gift

My mother

    When I was a young mother I would gaze at the faces of my sleeping children in wonder and thanksgiving at such an amazing gift.  I marveled over each tiny fingernail, the chubby cheeks, the rolls on their thighs, and the downy wisp of their hair.  Now with three children grown and three still at home I feel the same joy each night when I peek in on my sleeping children.  I ask God to bless those who are under my roof and their brothers who live away.

My mother-in-law

     My youngest children are tucked in their beds.  Their tummies are full.  They have showered and brushed.  They are healthy.  Their limbs are long and straight.  Their hair and eyes sparkle with happiness and wholeness.  They are tired from school and play.  They like to read before they fall asleep and many nights I tuck their blankets around them while pulling books from their sleeping fingers.  I remove the electronics from under their pillows.  They have plans for education.   Our home is warm inside even when it is cold outside.  They don't have everything they want, but they have everything they need.  I have been richly blessed.  

     A world away from us in Indonesia lives Jimi.  He is the ten year old we sponsor through Compassion International.  In a letter we received this week, Jimi shared that he had just recovered from being seriously ill.  He had been hospitalized and in a coma. His mother had been told there was no hope.  No hope for her ten year old son.  I can only imagine his mother's anguish.  Jimi had an illness that I had never heard of.  But our God is a God of Hope.   Jimi was healed.  How his mother must have rejoiced.  I am so grateful for the life of this little boy we share.

     Mothers everywhere share some of the same dreams for their children.  We want them to grow up to be happy and healthy, to have an education, to have someone to love and someone to love them.  Mother's are far more the same, then we are different. 

     This world can be a dangerous place for those who live in poverty.  Out of the riches that have so graciously been given to me, I give just $38.00 a month to make the world a little better for Jimi - and his mother.
     For more photo's of great mother's visit Ken Weakley for Project 52.