Mothers. The women who lay down their lives for their families day-in and day-out. The women who serve their husbands and children, usually without complaint. The women who cook, clean, and manage their households. The women who wear too many hats to count, including taxi driver, teacher, nurse, chef, and dog washer. The women who would make more in one year than the top CEO of a corporation – if they were paid for the work they do without wage.
We all have them. Some resemble the Proverbs 31 Woman (see Prov. 31), while others – unfortunately – have not even come close to fearing the Lord. Regardless of our mothers’ character, God calls us to honor her.
How can we honor our mothers as Mother’s Day approaches?
Here are 10 Ways to Honor Your Mother:
1. Blog about her. This year, I put together a post all about my mom. I included photos of her and things she loves. I talked about who she is as a woman of God and as my mom, along with who she is as a grandmother. Honestly, I can’t wait to hear her reaction. What can you say about your mom in a blog post?
2. Brag about her on Facebook or Twitter all day. Put up posts and tag her. I remember the time…{insert description and attach photo}. Mom was always the funny one {insert photo of Mom making faces or dressed as a clown}.
Maybe you don’t social network. What then?
3. Get her a bouquet of her favorite flowers. Especially if she doesn’t get them most of the year round. I know it touches my heart to find a bouquet with my name on it at the door or in the hand of my husband or the hands of my children on Mother’s Day.
4. Make her a photo album. It can be anything: a favorite trip, a day out, her life, your life as her child, her grandchildren. Moms love pictures and the memories that go with them.
5. Write her a poem. Or a short story. Or a letter. Tell her how much a mother’s love means to you.
6. Buy her a gift card to her favorite store. Give her a bouquet of gift cards to her favorite stores. Most women love a day of shopping for themselves. Especially if they’re like me and they spend all the spare money buying new clothes for kids who keep outgrowing theirs all year. Maybe Mom could use a wardrobe overhaul for a change. What better time to do it than Mother’s Day?
7. Take her out to dinner. Let her pick the restaurant. After eating McDonald’s and Taco Bell all year, she’ll probably enjoy being treated to that fancy restaurant a little further down the street.
8. Send her away for a mini-vacation. Moms pour their hearts and souls into their families 365 days a year. If you don’t know this already, working 24/7 can be draining. Most employers give their employees a number of weeks of vacation. Why shouldn’t Mom get one? This time alone doing something she enjoys in a place she enjoys being will recharge her and refresh her for the next year to come.
9. Let Mom pick where to take the family vacation this year. Maybe she’s tired of camping and would prefer a week at the beach. Maybe she doesn’t want to go to Disney World or LegoLand this year. Maybe she’d like to go visit family members she hasn’t seen since they moved halfway across the country.
10. Lavish her for the day. Treat her like the Queen she is and deserves to be treated as. Let her sleep in. Bring her her favorite breakfast in bed. (Mine’s french toast, eggs, and bacon.) Take her to the mall and pay for a pedicure or manicure or both. (After all, that dishwater does a number on a woman’s hands.) Buy her a new outfit. Take her out to lunch or dinner. Send her off to a movie with a friend. Let her stay home and put her feet up with a good magazine. (Maybe she’d like a foot rub.) Find out what speaks love to her and use that love language all day.
After all, she is Mom, and she does so much for you each day 365 days a year. She deserves a lifetime of Mother’s Day love.
