Monday, May 02, 2011

Now I Know

Before I became a mother, it was easy to pick out a Mother's Day gift for my mom. I had the privilege of ignorance. But on February 17, 2006, that ignorance flew out the window of Baylor Grapevine Hospital when a baby boy was placed in my arms. Now I knew.
Having heard on my birthday every year about the 14 stitches my mother suffered during childbirth and how many months she felt that pain, I now felt it.
Having heard my mother say that having a child is like carrying your heart outside your body and letting it walk around, I now carried it. I now saw it take first steps.
I had never loved my mother more. Now I knew. The magnitude of what my mother had done for me all my life started to sink in.
So how exactly am I supposed to say thank you to my mother now that I know?
For countless meals fixed or fetched, for hairdos perfected before school and messed up before the bus got us all the way there, for refereeing more sibling battles than one can count, for pretending and being silly, for enduring back to school shopping with two daughters year in and year out, for carpooling, for taking us on vacations to places we wanted to go, for protecting us from harm, for comforting us when kids were mean, for correcting us when we were mean, for listening to kids’ music in the car, for teaching our VBS classes, for volunteering at the school, for confidentially counseling our friends, for cheering us on from the bleachers even when our team couldn't win a game, for enduring our adolescent mood swings, for playing basketball in the driveway, for teaching us about Jesus Christ, and for doing all these things with love and a smile on her face. HOW? How do I thank my mother for raising me? And for doing it without letting on how hard it was?
Mom, truly, I thank you. Now that I know, I don't know how you did it. But I'm grateful. And I hope I can raise your grandchildren in such a way that they remember me with a smile on my face. Even if I put all my money in my purse and spent a year doing nothing but shop for the perfect Mother's Day gift to accurately reflect your worth to me as a mother, it would elude me. Nothing in a store could ever measure up to your value.

I may have a little gift in my hand for you on Mother's Day, but I also want to give a gift that means something more. I want to show you your value to me by showing a little girl in India how much value she has to Christ. She is living in a very dark, unsafe brothel and her own mother is a slave to many men. Her mother is unable to care for her because she is not free to stop working. Her mother could sell her young daughter to the brothel and escape a living hell. But her mother wants freedom, protection and life for her child. Her mother is saying, "Help me by helping my daughter."

With a financial gift made in your honor, God is providing a means of rescue for this little girl through As Our Own. The little girl's mother will entrust her to their care. When she visits her daughter she will see her thriving and healthy and she will know that she has given her child a priceless gift. The child will be raised by loving women who will nurture her like their own daughter. She will go to school and be educated, which will change the path of her future. She will be introduced to Jesus Christ, who loves her and gave Himself for her. For the rest of her life, a family of believers will devote themselves to her well being.
Rescuing children from horrific exploitation and eventual death from AIDS does not come without a cost. For those of you reading this, the cost is financial. For a team of believers on the ground in India, the cost is spiritual and physical. Today I am looking for people who will partner with us by giving sacrificially to As Our Own. Let's equip them to do the work God has called them to do. They are anointed for this work. They are even training pastors to take up this cause so that the church in India will become a mighty advocate for these children. The momentum is building and I ask you to please be a part of what God is doing.
Honestly, it is easier not to know about these things. I could have written details in this post that would have made you sick for the rest of the week. What happens in that red-light district haunts me daily. But I will not turn away because it's easier. I will consider what is happening, how I can help, and I will take five minutes to go to As Our Own's new web site and actually do it. The beauty is that right now you and I can impact a child's future and honor our moms (or a special mother figure in our lives) at the same time. Who is with me?
Donate in honor of Mother's Day: AsOurOwn.org/ThanksMom
About As Our Own
The extreme poverty in India places girls at great risk for exploitation, enslavement, and neglect. Girls are regularly abused and degraded, forced into lives of bonded labor, either in organized begging or the sex trade.
These girls will face a dark, horrific future—unless someone intervenes.
God has opened the door for As Our Own to rescue girls before they are exploited, giving us the privilege to care for each one as our own—for life. We are building strong communities through our Lighthouse church network and training strong leaders and pastors at our Hope College, all to break these cycles for girls in future generations.
Your gifts make a lasting difference for these girls. Thank you!

20 comments:

Leah Adams said...

Amanda,

I was thinking of doing something unique and meaningful for my mom and mom-in-law this year. You have just provided exactly what i needed. Thanks so much.

Marc and Charity said...

I loved this post Amanda. Thanks for the link again, can we link to this for other's to hear about?

Amanda said...

Charity, yes, feel free to link to it. Thanks!

WendyBrz said...

I think I'd like to donate to honor both my mom AND the daughter that God blessed me with - how I thank Him that I was able to raise her safely!

Missy June said...

We must not turn away. Ever. Thank you for your highlight of this cause, it is one close to my heart!

Libby said...

What a beautiful post and a great idea!
We lost my mom 13 years ago, April 29th so close to Mother's Day and I think that this is an awesome way to pay tribute to her and honor her and help someone else at the same time.
Thank you.

WingfieldsInBrussels said...

Thank you for posting this. I had not heard of this organization before but I will definitely be donating to them now.

You summed it up perfectly that I have no way of being able to thank my mother now that I know what motherhood is all about.

jenny said...

oh thank you for sharing this!!! JUST beautiful. Beautiful. You inspired me to do the same for MY mom!!! THANK YOU!!!

Katie said...

Amanda-
This is your best post ever!!
Good work!
-Katie

Anonymous said...

If this post doesn't make someone want to be a mommy, I don't know what would! :) I love this. Thanks for sharing your heart with us!

Beth Herring said...

that's beautiful Amanda. thanks for sharing with us!

JayCee said...

Thank you so much for making this available to us. We will be doing this for both of our mothers and also a "mother-figure" in our lives. Thanks again!

Nicole said...

What a post. The older I get, the more I appreciate what my mom has gone through for me. When I have babies of my own one day, I know I won't even be able to stand the thought of her actions towards me. Oh, the blessings.

Ali said...

Do you use any type of internet accountability company on your computers at home?

If you don't can you ask someone who might know what to company to suggest? We need this for our home and I don't know who to ask.

Thank you!

IncenseAndMyrrh said...

Loved this. Thank you. I enjoyed reading it..

Barbara Head said...

I went on and did a memorium to my mother who went to be with Jesus 15years ago but then I thought my daughter and my daughter-in-love have everything their hearts desire so I also did gifts in their names. I know they will appreciate these gifts because they both have girls and both have a heart for the lost.

annalee said...

Thank you for sharing all, and giving such a wonderful idea for Mother's Day. Shh, don't tell our moms but I just made donations and printed the certificates.

Missy June said...

I thought this article about gender preference in Inda would interest you: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42892710/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia

So very sad.

~Jodi~ said...

Thanks so much for sharing this! This was just perfect for Mothers day. Thanks alot for your blog and for having such a heart for others.

JustJess said...

Amanda, thanks for the post! Just gave my mom her certificate of donation as her mothers day gift and she absolutely loved it! What a great way to contribute to the needs of others and bless our moms at the same time. I've linked to your blog on mine as well. Thanks for the idea!