Today is Mother’s Day. I spoke with my mom and brother this morning and heard their plan for the day. I then went to church at the orphanage and at the end we had a party for the mother’s. We played games, sang, and read poems to them. As I stood there I started tearing up, missing my mom, wishing I could spend the day with her and my brother, laughing with them, eating with them, enjoying them. I sat in this sorrow for quite some time as everyone around me laughed and embraced the moments. Then I looked around and realized that yes, I was away from my mom for mother’s day but at least I have a mom, most of the kids around me didn’t even have a mom... at least as a teenager I had a mom beside me, to take me to school, to ask me about my day, to fix me soup when I was sick, to watch my soccer games, to be proud of me when I got good grades, to take me to the doctor, to make me dinner at night... these kids don’t have that in their teens... they’re missing out on the tender touch, the soft voice, the loving words that a mom provides...
I then realized that it hurt to be away from my mom and brother for this day and I am not a mom and I especially am not any of these kid’s mom... but I am one of the closest things that they have to a mom right now. I’m not perfect and I’m not their real mom and there are lots of them I care for but if I can have some type of an impact, no matter how small it is, to show them the touch, the love, of a mom. To show to them that role and have some type of an impact on their hearts and lives that a mother has... well if I can do that then it is absolutely worth it to spend the day away from my family, no matter how much I miss them and it hurts.
