Mothers and Flowers

Why is it that often when we think of mothers, most of us automatically think of flowers?

I think of how gentle my mother was to my siblings and I growing up. When we were sick or hurting, she was there with just the right words, touch, or therapy to make us feel better. Flowers are gentle living creatures that nurture our spirits when we look at them.

Flowers have soft petals and mothers have a soft heart. Many times they give in to a child when they shouldn't, only because they love their child and want their children to have all they themselves perhaps did not have.

Flowers are strong and able to withstand some harsh weather. Mothers too are strong and must withstand some harsh weather -- the changes in children's behaviors as they grow up, the questions they ask as they go through the learning stages, the defiancy as they struggle with hormones and hard decisions. A mother must be strong and yet maintain the gentleness of the flower to keep their children's trust which bears love.

Some flowers have thorns. Mothers need thorns. While mothers love their children, mothers must also discipline (thorns) their children in love. Whatever method that is chosen, the mother must remember to discipline in love and not in the heat of anger or fear (lest it become abuse and not discipline).

Flowers are beautiful and mothers too have a beauty that nobody else has. It is not a physical beauty but a beauty that comes from within, a "mom" beauty that can be witnessed from watching mothers interact with their children -- watching them play, introducing them to arts and other new things the child may learn from and come to enjoy. Their roots go deep so that later on in life, the child, perhaps now grown, can look back to their mom and ask for the advice they did not want when they were younger.

Overall, mothers have a hard task, but they handle it beautifully. My mother was a gem of a flower and continues to be. She hurts when I hurt; she cries when I cry; she laughs when I laugh; she worries over me still even though I am 41.

Next time you see a flower, stop and reflect on its beauty and how it compares to the beauty of your mother. A mother's love never dies because it is passed on through her children.