Sunday 8 May is Mother’s Day in Australia. Mother’s Day is a wonderful time to celebrate mothers and motherhood. Mothers are the bearers and the nurturers of life. Our mothers are the ones who have given themselves in so many ways so that we as their children can live, and live life well.
A HISTORY OF MOTHER’S DAY
The celebration of Mother’s Day began in 1905 when Anna Jarvis handed out carnations in honour of her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis at a church service in Grafton, West Virginia, USA. The carnations were to symbolize a mother’s pure love. By the 1920s Mother’s Day had gained a momentum of its own and today it is a global phenomenon.
In Australia, Mrs. Janet Heyden of Leichhardt, Sydney, commenced the tradition of giving gifts for Mother’s Day, in 1924. She started this tradition whilst visiting a patient at the Newington State Home for Women, where she met many lonely and forgotten mothers. She began to raise funds, from her community, to purchase gifts for these women, in order to cheer them up.
Today in Australia, the chrysanthemum is given to mothers on Mother’s Day. This is largely because this flower is naturally in season during May and its name ends in “mum”, which makes it the perfect gift!
WE LOVE YOU MUM!
In home schooling, the majority of front-line educators are the mothers. Home schooling could not exist without the thousands of mothers who give their lives for this special ministry of educating their children in and around the home and their local community.
We give thanks to God for our mothers – and no wonder we make them a cuppa in bed on Mother’s Day! Let’s show our appreciation to all of our mothers on this special day.
At ACHS, we salute our mothers. Keep on keeping on ladies!
Comments