A Magical Moment on Mother's Day
It was one of those rare, unplanned moments. If we had tried to stage this little bit of drama, it would probably have flopped.
Like just about every other church in the country, we had a special time of honoring all the mothers present during our worship services on Mother's Day. Kristine, our children's minister, asked all the mothers to stand, and then enlisted all the young children to help present each mother with a long stem carnation. The kids grabbed a few flowers and scurried all over the sanctuary bringing big smiles to every woman's face.
But wouldn't you know it, we came up one carnation short. Little Ali, three years old, needed one more carnation to give to her own mother, Candi. Someone suggested sharing a flower, but Ali was not going to be denied. She hurried back to the altar, but found no more kids and no more carnations. That's when her eyes spotted the large, beautiful bouquet of roses on the communion table. Everyone in the sanctuary knew what little Ali was thinking. In a heartbeat she was up the steps and up on her tiptoes reaching up for the big red rose in the center. There was no time to react. Everyone held their breath, afraid that the whole thing might fall over on her. But Ali was just barely tall enough to reach that one special rose which slipped out into her eager hand. She turned around with a huge smile and ran down the aisle into her mother's arms holding up her red rose with a hug and a kiss.
It was Mother's Day, all right. A day at least one mother will never forget.
And I knew the rest of the story that others did not. I had brought that big bouquet of roses to the church from a cemetery the day before. I had conducted the funeral of a wonderful mother named Joyce who died after a long battle with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. I had shared the words of tribute and love from her daughter and two sons, and what a wonderful testimony it was. So, when little Ali plucked that big red rose from Joyce's funeral bouquet, I have to believe that somewhere in Glory, Joyce smiled a big smile, too.
Thank God for all good and godly mothers, those present and those absent.
Like just about every other church in the country, we had a special time of honoring all the mothers present during our worship services on Mother's Day. Kristine, our children's minister, asked all the mothers to stand, and then enlisted all the young children to help present each mother with a long stem carnation. The kids grabbed a few flowers and scurried all over the sanctuary bringing big smiles to every woman's face.
But wouldn't you know it, we came up one carnation short. Little Ali, three years old, needed one more carnation to give to her own mother, Candi. Someone suggested sharing a flower, but Ali was not going to be denied. She hurried back to the altar, but found no more kids and no more carnations. That's when her eyes spotted the large, beautiful bouquet of roses on the communion table. Everyone in the sanctuary knew what little Ali was thinking. In a heartbeat she was up the steps and up on her tiptoes reaching up for the big red rose in the center. There was no time to react. Everyone held their breath, afraid that the whole thing might fall over on her. But Ali was just barely tall enough to reach that one special rose which slipped out into her eager hand. She turned around with a huge smile and ran down the aisle into her mother's arms holding up her red rose with a hug and a kiss.
It was Mother's Day, all right. A day at least one mother will never forget.
And I knew the rest of the story that others did not. I had brought that big bouquet of roses to the church from a cemetery the day before. I had conducted the funeral of a wonderful mother named Joyce who died after a long battle with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. I had shared the words of tribute and love from her daughter and two sons, and what a wonderful testimony it was. So, when little Ali plucked that big red rose from Joyce's funeral bouquet, I have to believe that somewhere in Glory, Joyce smiled a big smile, too.
Thank God for all good and godly mothers, those present and those absent.
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