On Mother's Day!

My, mother, God's greatest gift to me.

This maybe a little late, but relevant just the same.

With due respect to all my love ones, especially my father, the title above perfectly says who my mother is to me. Most, if not everything that I am now, is because of what God wanted me to be. I believe God sent my mother to fulfill a mission. Her God-given mission for me had been put into completion. She has inspired me in so many ways. Let me count the ways;

Her simplicity shines, vibrates and penetrates in the family. I grew up seeing her does all her responsibilities as a mother and  a wife with complete dedication and pure joy. She was very contented living her life in the confines of our home and the neighborhood. For her, having served us, her eight children and our father was the meaning of a perfect day.

Her piety was her consolation and source of strength and endurance. She possesses a prayer booklet which she always bring and use whenever she goes to church. I discovered that book once when I was looking for something in the family aparador. I read the prayer booklet and it had inspired and influenced my spiritual life since. One night, there was a strong typhoon and we were all afraid. All of use children were lying together while she was sitting uttering her prayers. I can not remember what she was praying but I am sure, she was pleading to God for protection. If she was worried of the typhoon, it did not show. It gave all of us a calming effect. With her watching over us, we felt at peace in spite of the typhoon.

Her humility was the source of our pride!. She wanted us to excel in our studies. She sees to it that in spite of having old clothes, they are always clean and worn over our equally clean bodies. She is the happiest when we are at our best. She is willing to do anything for our sake. I was a Caritas Manila scholar in high school. On my first year, my mother was summoned by the nun who was managing the scholarship program because my professor got angry at me when I questioned the agreed contribution which I thought my parents could not provide. My professor felt offended and gave me a failing grade in conduct. The nun told my mother that I could lose my scholarship because of what I had done. My mother, crying, begged the sister to give me another chance, My mother knew that the scholarship is my best opportunity  that time. If I lose it, they might find it hard to support me. The nun gave me another chance and since then, I promised to myself that I would give my best behavior, not only to forfeit my scholarship, but most importantly, never to make my mother cry anymore.

Her resiliency in the face of difficult situations helped us accept with ease our difficulties. There were times when my father would go home with his pay slip containing only receipts as payment for loans incurred. She would bravely accept the situation and move on to the next level of finding ways to survive the next days until the next pay day. She embodies the prayer; "Lord, give me the grace to change the things I can, the strength to accept the unchangeable, and the wisdom to know the  difference. Amen." Needless to say, the prayer had always been my personal prayer too!