Every Day

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day. It is such a special day, and it is awesome to see all the pictures on social media with husbands and partners, children, and lives – whether biological children or not – that have been profoundly impacted by these Angels, uh, Moms! Everyone is pouring out praise and thanking these women who have selflessly sacrificed for us and who have loved us unconditionally. Isn’t the unconditional love of our Moms truly miraculous? And have you noticed that seemingly everyone has “the best” Mom?

A quick google search of “What is the meaning of Mother’s Day?” produces the following which sites sources such as history.com, Britannica.com, bbc.co.uk, and readerdigest.ca:

“Mother's Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is celebrated in different forms throughout the world. In the United States, it is observed on the second Sunday of May. The American incarnation of Mother's Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis later denounced the holiday's commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. The holiday traditionally involves presenting mothers with flowers, cards, and other gifts. The tradition of giving carnations to mothers originated in North America and has since come to signify purity, faith, love, beauty, and charity.”

Several other websites will simply say something like, “A day to honor moms and motherhood.”

I think it is a great day, one we should absolutely celebrate; however, I don’t think it should be just a day! I don’t think we should honor Moms once a year but rather every day of the year. What would our world look like if we truly loved, valued, cherished, and honored Moms, and the mother figures in our lives, every day? I think I understand why Ms. Jarvis supposedly spent the latter part of her life trying to remove Mother’s Day from the calendar.

Have you ever noticed how we will try to make up for our failures and areas of neglect with some gift or grand gesture? No time for the kids because I am too busy with work, golf, or whatever so I try to buy them a toy or something else that will let them know I love them. So busy with life, caught up in my concerns, that I fail to genuinely appreciate the daily sacrifices that those closest to me are making for me. Or how about this one; you made me mad, or I don’t like something you did so, I am going to give you the cold shoulder, not talk to you, etc. That, my Friends, would be conditional love! But hey, don’t worry, Mother’s Day is coming! We will all dress nice, smile for the picture, and I will say all kinds of wonderful things…that makes up for it, right? Hardly!

Let’s choose to be different, Friends! Yes, let’s celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentines Day, birthday’s, etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that…let’s just make sure it is not the only day that we are honoring and celebrating the people we are blessed to have in our lives.

A few things are floating around in my mind, I don’t know exactly where they fit into this message, I just feel they need to be stated here.

“Don’t be so concerned with what you are going to do but rather be concerned with who you are going to be.” Let’s be people who genuinely love (unconditionally!), value, and appreciate all those we are blessed to have in our lives and then, we will know what to do!

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Lamentations 3:23 “Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.”

Matthew 6:34 “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.”

It seems to me, at least according to God, every day is to be a special day!

Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God’s Ten Commandments that ends with a promise.”

Do you notice the period after “mother?” It doesn’t say, “Honor your father and mother on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day,” or “Honor your father and mother on occasion.” No, it says, “Honor your father and mother.”

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

Kev