Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) first suggested the national observance of an annual day honoring all mothers because she had loved her own mother so dearly. At a memorial service for her mother on May 10, 1908, Miss Jarvis gave a carnation (her mother’s favorite flower) to each person who attended. Within the next few years, the idea of a day to honor mothers gained popularity, and Mother’s Day was observed in a number of large cities in the U.S. On May 9, 1914, by an act of Congress,
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. He established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” By then it had become customary to wear white carnations to honor departed mothers and red to honor the living, a custom that continues to this day.
Happy Mother’s day dear women of our church. As your pastor, I want to thank you for all of your diligent love, care and constant concern for your children, both in our church and those outside of our church family. Being a mother is a calling that never ends until you see the Lord. May the Lord richly bless you on this day that we honor you mothers whom all of you have sacrificed so much to bring such hope and joy to our families. We also honor those that have gone on to glory that we hold near and dear on this day as we remember our mothers.
Sincerely, Pastor Mark
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who reveres the Lord will be praised.”
Proverbs 31:30.