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MOTHER'S
LOVE GOES DEEP
WHY MOTHERS CRY....
AS THE TWIG IS BENT
"LOVE YOU FOREVER"
WHY GOD CREATED MOTHERS
A CHILD'S ANGEL
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PARENTS
THE MOTHER WITH THE FATHER'S HEART
MOTHER'S
LOVE GOES DEEP
"You don't love me!"
How many times have your kids laid that one on you?
And how many times have you, as a parent, resisted the
urge to tell them how much?
Someday, when my children are old enough to understand
the logic that motivates a mother, I'll tell them.
I loved you enough to insist you buy a bike with your own
money that we could afford and you couldn't.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover your
handpicked friend was a creep;
I loved you enough to make you return a Milky Way with a
bite out of it to a drugstore and say, "I stole
this."
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while
you cleaned your bedroom, a job that would have taken me
fifteen minutes.
I loved you enough to say, "Yes, you may go to
Disney World on Mother's Day."
I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment,
disgust and tears in my eyes.
I loved you enough not to make excuses for your lack of
respect or you bad manners.
I loved you enough to admit that I was wrong and ask your
forgiveness.
I loved you enough to ignore "what every other
mother" did or said.
I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall, hurt and
fail.
I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility
for your own actions, at 6, 10, and 16.
I loved you enough to figure you would lie about the
party being chaperoned but forgave you for it after
discovering I was right.
I loved you enough to shove you off my lap, let go of
your hand, be mute to your pleas and insensitive to your
demands...so that you had to stand alone.
I loved you enough to accept you for what you are,
not what I wanted you to be.
But most of all, I loved you enough to say no
when you hated me for it.
THAT WAS THE HARDEST PART OF ALL.
~~ Author Unknown
WHY
MOTHERS CRY....
"Why are you crying?" he asked his mom.
"Because I'm a mother," she told him.
"I don't understand," he said.
His mom just hugged him and said, "You never
will!"
Later the little boy asked his father
why Mother seemed to cry for no reason.
"All mothers cry for no reason," was all his
dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering
why mothers cry. So he finally put in a call to God, and
when God got on the phone, the man said, "God, why
do mothers cry so easily?"
God said, "You see, son, when I made mothers, they
had to be special. "I made their shoulders strong
enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle
enough to give comfort.
"I gave them an inner strength to endure childbirth
and the rejection that many times come from their
children.
"I gave them a hardiness that allows them to keep
going when everyone else gives up, and to take care of
their families
through sickness and fatigue without complaining.
"I gave them the sensitivity to love their children
under all circumstances, even when their child has hurt
them very badly.
"This same sensitivity helps them to make a child's
boo-boo feel better and helps them share a teenager's
anxieties and fears.
"I gave them a tear to shed. It's theirs exclusively
to use whenever it's needed. It's their only weakness.
It's a tear for mankind."
AS
THE TWIG IS BENT
The child stood sadly looking down,
Staring at something on the ground.
Her mother's words were harsh and sharp;
She felt them tearing her apart.
The silent tears rolled down her cheek,
But still she stood, mute and meek.
She knew somehow she was rejected,
Although physically, she was not neglected.
She wasn't yet in her teens,
Just a tomboy, in blue jeans.
She had learned to live with pain;
Throughout her days, it would remain.
Again her mind wondered, "Why?"
Perhaps she'd know, by and by.
There must be something awfully wrong,
She guessed she'd known it all along.
Maybe it was her own plain looks,
She'd read of it in some books.
How to a mother of unusual beauty,
Her plain child might be an unwanted duty.
But her mother was so fair,
If there was any trouble there,
The fault must surely be her own,
Oh, how she wished that she was grown.
Then she would go away and hide,
While her heart just ached and cried.
Finally the hurting words had ceased,
From their cruel blows she was released.
So she turned and walked away,
She knew better than to stay.
In her room she closed her door,
And cried 'til she could cry no more.
Then she prepared herself for bed,
Washed her face, with eyes so red.
She wished her Mom would hug her tight.
And, just once, kiss her goodnight.
At last she crawled into her bed;
Silently, her prayers were said.
"Please, Lord, just let Mom love me,
And, oh, so good I'll always be."
The years have passed, the scene has changed,
Mother and daughter still remain.
The mother now is growing old,
The child, once warm, has grown so cold.
Somehow, the roles are now reversed,
The mother's last, The daughter's first,
The beauty, too, has been exchanged.
It seems that nature rearranged.
The child, now grown, has beauty fair,
There is none other to compare,
While the mother has grown old and gray,
Her loveliness has passed away.
The mother looks up at her now grown child,
And tries to please her, with a smile.
But the daughter coldly turns away,
She's much too busy to stop today.
Let the old lady sit awhile,
She's not about to change her style.
She walks out, with no good-bye,
And the old mother starts to cry.
Oh, if she could only just erase,
The coldness from her daughter's face.
If she'd just come and hug her tight,
And kiss her withered face goodnight.
If those lost years she could recall,
She'd live them over, one and all.
She'd give the love, she now so longs to get,
And then be rid of this regret.
But she knows, this can't be so.
Years don't come back, once they go.
So she must live with being spurned,
The things she taught, were so well learned.
So I leave you, with this thought:
Please take heed, lest you get caught.
Live long enough and you will see,
As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.
Connie Eppes
"LOVE
YOU FOREVER"
A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him
back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while
she held him, she sang:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew
until he was two years old, and he ran all around the
house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled
all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his
mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes
his mother would say, "This kid is driving me
CRAZY!" But at night time, when that two-year-old
was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled
across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and
if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him
back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she
rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He
grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to
come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and
when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes
his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo! But at night
time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the
door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up
over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she
picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and
forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she
rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew
until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he
wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music.
Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo! But at
night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother
opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and
looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really
asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him
back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she
rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He
grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a
house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the
mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the
lights in her son's house were out, she opened his
bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up
over the side of his bed. If that great big man was
really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and
forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she
rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older
and older. One day she called up her son and said,
"You better come see because I'm very old and
sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in
the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always....
But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick.
The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked
her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And
he sang this song:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my Mom you'll be.
When the son came home that night, he stood for a long
time at the top of the stairs.
Then he went into the room where his very new baby
daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and
very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth,
back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
~ Robert Munsch ~
WHEN
GOD CREATED MOTHERS
When the Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth
day of "overtime" when the angel appeared, and
said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this
one."
And the Lord said, "Have you seen the specs on this
order? She has to be completely washable, but not
plastic; have 180 moveable parts.. .all replaceable; run
on black coffee and leftovers; Have a lap that disappears
when she stands up; a kiss that can cure anything from a
broken leg to a disappointed love affair; and six pairs
of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said "Six Pairs
of hands?.... No way."
"Its not the hands that are causing me
problems," said the Lord. "It's those three
pairs of eyes that mothers have."
"Is that on the standard model?" asked the
angel?
The Lord nodded His head. "one pair that sees
through closed doors when she asks, 'what are you kids
doing in there?' when she already knows. Another here in
the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't, but
what she has to know, and of course the ones here in
front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say,
'I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering
a word."
"Lord" said the angel touching his sleeve
gently, "come to bed Tomorrow...."
"I cant" said the Lord, "I'm so close to
creating something so close to myself. Already I have one
who heals herself when she is sick.. Can feed a family of
six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine year
old to stand under a shower.
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly,
"Its too soft." she sighed.
"But tough!" said the Lord excitedly. "you
cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure
...."
The angel then ask, "can she think?"
Not only think, but she can reason and compromise,"
said the Creator.
Finally the angel bent over and ran a finger across the
cheek, "There's a leak," she pronounced.
"I told You, You were trying to put too much into
this model."
"It's not a leak," said the Lord, "it's a
tear."
"What's it for?" asked the angel.
"It's for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment,
loneliness, and pride."
"Lord You are a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber and said, I did not put it
there."
~ Erma Bombeck ~
A
CHILD'S ANGEL
Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So
one day he asked God:
"They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow
but how am I going to live there being so small and
helpless?"
"Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She
will be waiting for you and will take care of you."
"But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything
else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be
happy."
"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile
for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love
and be happy."
"And how am I going to be able to understand when
people talk to me, if I don't know the language that men
talk?"
"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and
sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience
and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."
"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to
you?"
"Your angel will place your hands together and will
teach you how to pray."
"I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who
will protect me?"
"Your angel will defend you even if it means risking
its life."
"But I will always be sad because I will not see you
anymore."
"Your angel will always talk to you about me and
will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even
though I will always be next to you."
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices
from earth could already be heard, and the child in a
hurry asked softly:
"Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me
my angel's name."
"Your angel's name is of no importance, you will
call your angel,
"Mommy."
~ Author Unknown ~
TEN
COMMANDMENTS FOR PARENTS
1. My hands are small; please do not expect perfection
whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball.
My legs are short; slow down so that I can keep up with
you.
2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; let me
explore it safely; do not restrict me unnecessarily.
3. Housework will always be there; I am little only for a
short time. Take time to explain things to me about this
wonderful world, and do so willingly.
4. My feelings are tender; do not nag me all day long
(you would not want to be nagged for your
inquisitiveness). Treat me as you would like to be
treated.
5. I am a special gift from God; treasure me as God
intended you to do -- holding me accountable for my
actions, giving me guidelines to live by, and discipline
me in a loving manner.
6. I need your encouragement (but not your empty praise)
to grow. Go easy on the criticism; remember you can
criticize the things I do without criticizing me.
7. Give me the freedom to make decisions concerning
myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my
mistakes. Then someday I will be prepared to make the
decisions life will require of me.
8. Do not do things for me; that makes me feel that my
efforts did not measure up to your expectations. I know
its hard, but don't compare me with my brother or sister.
9. Do not be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids
need vacations from parents, and parents need vacations
from kids. Besides, it's a great way to show us kids that
your marriage is something special.
10. Take me to Sunday school and church regularly,
setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning
more about God.
THE
MOTHER WITH THE FATHER'S HEART
If I'm not sure of who I am,
I just need to look at you.
You're the kind of person I'd like to be...
One who strives to be like Jesus.
I won't compare your beauty to that Rose,
Although I've seen you display God's grace
when life handed you thorns.
No, your humility would not allow it.
Instead I will just remind you, Mom,
that even a little green sprig is celebrated
in a sun-scorched desert.
Yes, you are a sign of living water
in a land of thirsty hearts and souls.
I won't compare your strength to a mighty tree,
although you've shaded many weary people,
in the healing leaves of your prayers;
and fed them by the fruits of the Spirit
abundantly growing from He Who dwells within you.
Instead I will remind you, Mom,
that all it takes is a few broken twigs
to create a storm-sheltering nest.
And the faith of a little mustard seed
moves God's heart to produce miracles.
And I won't compare your loving heart
to all the mothers' hearts of the world,
because you have the heart
of the loving Heavenly Father.
I love you, Mom,
the way you have taught me to love,
With the love of the Lord.
~~ Melanie Cummings
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