This Sunday is Mother’s Day. It’s the day we show appreciation to the special women in our lives who take care of our children and who took care of us growing up. Mother’s Day always reminds me of my childhood and celebrating that holiday at our church.
When I was growing up, my family and I went to church a lot. We went for Sunday school, again for church service, broke for lunch and then went back for choir practice and for Baptist Training Union, which was essentially a repeat of Sunday school.
I confess, I sometimes faked a headache to try to get out of that extra church, but my mother – like most mothers – was far too smart for that. She’d say, “Oh, Mark, that’s just a TU (training union) headache. Now get in the car.”
But I never tried to fake an ailment when the Mother’s Day Sunday service came around. I looked forward to it. Our pastor, Hugh Bumpas, better known as Brother Bumpas, would ask all the mothers to stand, and then he’d start identifying the one with the most children, the oldest, the youngest, the one who came from the farthest away, etc. It was fun to see who held the “title” for each distinction.
The moment of recognition was brief, but it was powerful. All those moms proudly standing, knowingly acknowledging each other for the bond they shared and the service to which they all had committed themselves day after day. This Mother’s Day, I want to do the same for the moms here.
Women make up almost 70 percent of the Texas Children’s family, and we know that at least 73 percent of those women are mothers. Now, I can’t really ask all of you to stand – nor do I think it would be prudent to ask which one of you is the oldest – but I do want to take this moment to celebrate you and your contributions to and impact on our world, especially here at Texas Children’s.
As mothers, you lead and organize, you listen and guide; you epitomize strength, compassion and commitment. And you bring all those qualities to bear on everything you do here, not only for our patients and their families, but also for your fellow team members. You constantly give the best of yourselves for those in your care.
Honestly, I can’t imagine our organization without the spirit and influence of all the mothers who serve here. This Mother’s Day, we honor you.