Happy Mother's Day! I am so blessed to have a mother who loves me, cares for me, and is a Christian. What a blessing from the Lord. Thanks mama for being you! I love you dearly! And my two sisters are both moms also. Happy Mother's Day Melissa and Adele! Thanks for being such great moms and allowing me to spoil my niece and nephews endlessly! I am so thankful to have been and continue to be a part of their lives.
In Peru, they celebrate Mother's Day like no other! And it is odd to me. It is a huge event. It has been advertised for weeks if not months now. There are flowers everywhere. Everyone is saying "Feliz dia" to all the moms. Twice I got greeted on the street by strangers with "Señora, feliz dia." It is a large celebration. Yet, one of our biggest struggles and cultural barriers to a flourishing church here is the lack of male leadership. The men often have more than one woman and children with more than one woman. They do not stay in marriages. If they are married, they have women on the side. They catcall and whistle as you walk by on the street. It is a serious problem of how men treat women and/or fail to treat them. So, it is an oxymoron to me that this culture then places such emphasis on women on this day -- Mother's Day. I love that it is a big deal here and properly emphasized. I just wish the remainder of the year they would show these women respect. Marry them. Stay with just one woman, not 3 or 4. But we live in a broken world. And we are called to restore it and we will work towards that goal all of our lives. It will never be fully restored until Christ returns.
So, until then we will continue to do what we can. I will be Peruvian and on this day say, "Feliz dia! mi mama". To all the mother's out there, Happy Mother's Day! Thank you for all of your sacrifices and long, thankless hours you put in to serve your family. It is a high calling to be a mother! Muchisimo gracias todos!
