Back in the 60s and 70s, they awarded these pins for Sunday School attendance. I’m not talking about today’s culture where everyone gets an award. You had to be there every week. Maybe you could miss a week if you were sick, but it was something that was earned. Looking back, I realize how misplaced these awards were. For us children, it was an example of reaping where we had not sown. I received all 18 of them, so I started ‘earning’ them from birth. My mother, like the other mothers in Dutchtown, did the heavy lifting. She got us up in the morning, fed us breakfast, got us dressed, and had us at church by 10 am. As I got older, I recall questioning why I had to go to Sunday School, but I knew what a waste of energy my protests were, and they were few. My mother made a commitment, and it wasn’t negotiable. That’s why I have these pins.
I have a Facebook friend who was a karate student of mine when she was a teenager. She was one of the very few who made it to black belt, and she became an excellent instructor herself. She has children of her own, and she posted how proud she was of her son, who had broken his arm and could not play sports but wanted to be there to support his team. I commented that she should be proud of him, but she should also be proud of herself for how she raised him. These words from Ralph Waldo Emerson ring true: “Men are what their mothers made them.”
As I am writing this, it is Mother’s Day, and I am remembering mama. She passed away just over a year ago. Several years ago, she wrote me a letter on the back of a birthday card. In it, she expressed how young and immature she was when I was born but that she must have done something right because she was proud of who I had become. Here was another example of a mother who didn’t fully appreciate the significance of her contribution. In all truth, I had the best mother of all times. Perhaps you did too, and maybe you are the best mother of all times. There is no contradiction. God gave you the best mother for you, and he gave your children the best mother for them. Mothers, rest in that knowledge and know that you are treasured far beyond what you realize.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, this video must be worth at least two thousand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og3uyxIXZQI