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{SFTH} *A Mother's Hug* 5/10/01
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A Mother's Hug
By Agnes M.
For years I had watched mothers hug and kiss their children and
I was envious. I hadn't received a mothers hug or known a mother's love.
When I was little, my parents went through a painful divorce.
It was a rough journey for them I imagine. All I remember about it
was my father coming home drunk and shouting at everyone. He
had a habit of beating us whenever he had a drink. I don't
remember much about my life with both parents. All that is
implanted in my mind is waking up one night all alone in the house
and to noises coming from my grandma's little hut. I had no idea of
what was going on so I walked there to find out. I walked so
stealthily because it was too dark and I was afraid I would meet with a
wild animal. There were too many of them in those days. When I
got to my grandma's hut, my other sisters and brothers were there
with my father. I think he was drunk because he was shouting. He
asked me, "Do you also want to follow your mother?" Without
thinking I just said, "Yes." I didn't think to say no. Next thing I
knew, he had hit me so hard on the head with some hard thing and
I started crying. My elder sister took me back to sleep. The next
morning, I had no mother.
We all grew up alone. No mother around and practically no father.
My father kind of deserted the home. He went to leave with
another woman (as I came to learn later). He would make
appearances about once every three months or so. We were too
young that we never really understood what was going on. It didn't
occur to us that something was wrong. May be it did to my elder
brother and sisters but not me. Most of the time we had no food.
We didn't know tea with sugar or food with salt or cooking fat.
These were great luxuries and only tasted them when my grandma
decided to invite us to eat in her hut.
Many nights we just drank water and slept. These were the nights
when my elder sister, Consolata had not been to the neighbors to
borrow some maize or beans in the pretext that it was for planting.
They never understood but they gave anyway. They wouldn't
understand because, our farm produced a lot of food. We had
acres and acres of wheat, potatoes, maize, etc. My father would
make sure we didn't attend school for long periods of time to work in the
farm. We all worked so hard. When I was too young to dig, I
would be the one to cook. I had to fetch firewood and make lunch
for others (that is, if there was anything to cook. Mostly it was
boiled maize. My grandma was kind enough to give us some salt
to put in the maize.) When the harvest time came, my father was
home full time. We were not allowed into the farm. He would hire
casual labor to harvest, put the produce in bags and load into
lorries to go and sell in other towns. Our luxurious days were after
the harvest when we could go back to the empty fields to collect
the rejects -- those little potatoes that couldn't fetch anything in the
market, or the good ones which had dropped off while they were
being packed up.
Then one day we met my mother. I didn't even recognize her well.
She was looking so nice I couldn't believe she was my mother.
I was afraid of her. The atmosphere around her was of a very
successful woman and I made sure I kept out of her way as much
as possible. She commanded a lot of respect and fear. She never
showed any love. If she had it, she kept it hidden inside. She made
sure we got the basic needs and we thought this was heaven.
e hadn't seen anything better. Inwardly, I was very proud to be
associated to that important woman. I hoped one day the school children
will see me walking with my mother so that they can know I was
important too. I needed them to know I was associated with a beautiful
mother even though I had no shoes and went to school with patched uniform.
We had grown and when I was in college the family went through a
very terrible ordeal and I lost my mother again. This time, I knew
all that was going on. I knew who started fights, who shouted
louder, who banged the door...
When I grew up, I didn't know about Jesus. No one talked about
Him at home. We attended mass but that was just a Sunday
routine which to me had no meaning at all. When I was in high
school, I gave my life to Christ. My step father was very angry with
me as a result. I had no support at home and as a result I dropped
my Christian commitment. I finished college and go a job. By this
time, I didn't even know where my mother was or what she was
doing. I had heard though that she had given her life to Christ and
was looking for a way to come back into our lives. But all of us children
wanted nothing to do with her. Our argument was that if she didn't
care when we were young what did she want now.
Then, in March 1999, I rededicated my life to Jesus. This time,
"with my two eyes open" and I knew it is what I needed in my life.
The Lord has been very faithful to me since then as I have
completely given myself to Him. There are days of struggle but I
am not alone now. I am with Jesus. At this time, I knew I had no
choice but to go to my mother and ask for forgiveness for not
wanting her to be a part of my life. I didn't know how but I kept
praying for God to open the way. My mother had completely
committed her life to Christ and was working in a local church as
an evangelist (she is even today). I started hearing news about her
evangelistic meetings and how God using her to change people's
lives. In December of 1999, my youngest brother and I decided to
go and see my mother in our rural home. I remember the whole of
that week my heart kept beating so fast when I thought I would see
my mother again. I didn't know what to expected but I imagined,
with Jesus, all was going to be well.
The minute I got out of the car my mother came running to me and
gave me the most beautiful hug I have ever had. We just stood
there holding each other with tears in our eyes. I wanted to live in
this moment forever, to stay in those warm arms that felt so secure.
For the first time in my life, my mother hugged me!
Now I know many people may not see this as unusual
but I waited thirty years for my mom to say those magic words, "I
love you." Now they flow from her heart like a fountain.
I praise the Lord for what He is doing in my family. I have a
daughter, and trust me, I never stop hugging her and telling her how
much I love her. She needs to know. I hope every parent who
reads this will learn and always let their children know that they are
loved. Never assume that the child knows. Always tell them clearly that
they mean a lot to you. They will grow to know how important it is to
be loved so they in turn will love others.
And one last thing...
Hug them often.
Agnes M.
agnes@transami.co.ke
Send Agnes an e-mail and let her know what you thought of her story!
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Thought For The Day:
"Every calling is great when greatly pursued." --Oliver Wendell Holmes
Verse for the Day:
"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:14
Kid's Thought for the day:
"You'll have a lot more respect for a bird after you try making a nest."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it." --Harold Hulbert
Coach's Thought For The Day
How true this is for coaches and players!!
Someone asked a famous conductor of a great symphony orchestra which instrument he considered the most difficult to play. The conductor thought a moment, the said, "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm -- that's a problem. And if we have no second fiddles, we have no harmony."
Deep Thought For The Day:
If my computer performs one more illegal operation, I'm
going to report it to the authorities.
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REQUESTS:
Dearest Michael,
My brother, David and his wife Jeannie are expecting twins. She is at 31 weeks. Last week she began having contractions and went into the hospital. The doctors have been giving her medication to stop the labor, and she will stabilize, then things will start progressing again. They are hoping she will not have to be transferred to Rockford where the NICU is. Ideally, the babies shouldn't be born for at least 4 more weeks. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, and that these babies will hang on a little longer, but most importantly that Jeannie will have a sense of God's power and control in all of this. I know she is grateful for prayers, and I thought it would be awesome to just surround her with prayer from all over the world so that she can have a feeling of trust that God is in control and he will take care of them all.
They don't check their e-mail very often, but here it is:
dpowers@gallatinriver.com
Thank you and much love to you all,
Susan McDonell
susanmcd@ameritech.net
P.S. We just found out that she will be staying in the hospital until the babies are born - hopefully 5 weeks!
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_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com
/_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
\_\/\ \ Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live for the Son
\_\/ of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
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