AS WE OBSERVE MOTHER’S DAY on Sunday May 14th, I’d like to share a little of the history of the holiday and also ask the Lord to bless each of you precious woman who are reading this.
Some say Mother’s Day began in America in 1870 when Julia Ward Howe wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation. She penned it in response
to the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. It was a proclamation that called on women to use their position as mothers to influence
society to fight for an end to all wars. She rallied women to stand up against the unjust violence of war through their role as a wife and mother,
and to protest the futility of their sons killing other mother’s sons. She wrote, in part, “Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have
hearts, whether our baptism be of water or of tears.”
TODAY we too are calling women to “ARISE” and stand up for the children, marriages, and families lest they be taken out by the enemy’s wicked plans!
In 1872, as a recognized suffragist, Julia fought for the right for women to vote once again putting her writing skills to work.
But the tradition as we know it today was started by Miss Anna Jarvis. When she was 12 years old, Anna’s mother
was teaching the Sunday school class on “Mothers of the Bible.” To conclude the lesson, Mrs. Jarvis said this small prayer:
“I hope that someone, sometime will found a memorial Mother’s Day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders
to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
Young Anna never forgot her mother’s words. In 1905 at her mother’s graveside service, she recalled the prayer and said,
“By the grace of God, you shall have that Mother’s Day.”
In 1907, Anna and her staunch supporters began an aggressive campaign to establish a National Mother’s Day in the United States, sending
a barrage of letters to legislators and civic leaders. The power of the pen and action!
In 1909, forty-five states including the U.S., Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Canada, and Mexico observed the day with appropriate services.
Interestingly, people wore white and red carnations to pay tribute to their mothers, according to the tradition started by Anna. She chose
carnations because they were her mother’s favorite flowers. The white carnation was her favorite because it represented the purity of a mother’s heart.
A white carnation was to be worn to honor a deceased mother, and a red one to honor a living mother. Many still wear or give carnations today for
those reasons.
By 1911, Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state of the Union. And in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming
Mother’s Day as a national holiday to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
It is important to note that though Anna devoted her life for the establishment of a national Mother’s Day, in the end she was disappointed by the way it turned out.
She was concerned with reform, not revenue. She hated the commercialization of the day so much that she felt sorry for starting the tradition of Mother’s Day.
Anna died at the age of 84 on November 24, 1948. She is interred beside her mother in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. On the day of her burial, the bell
on the Andrews Church in Grafton was tolled eighty-four times in her honor.
“HEAVENLY FATHER, we thank You for each female whom You formed in their mother’s womb! We thank You for birth moms, moms who adopt, for foster moms, for spiritual moms,
for all those wonderful women who nurture, encourage, and love others as You call us to do. We pray for those children who are angry or upset with their mothers. We ask You to
remind them that their mom carried them in their womb for many months and chose to give them LIFE!”
“HOLY SPIRIT, please replace irritation or annoyance in any child’s heart with love and honor, and exchange forgiveness for unforgiveness. Please fill the large, gaping holes
in people’s hearts who have lost their mother, and comfort those who wanted children but were unable to give birth for whatever reason. Thank You for creating women so uniquely,
so beautifully. May each precious woman realize how much You love them, and may we all come to discover the Good Plans You have for each of us in Yeshua-Jesus Name we pray!”
According to Proverbs 31:8 – “May a woman’s children rise up and call her blessed; may her husband also, and may he praise her…”
If you don’t have anyone to tell you “Thank you, you are so very special”, we want to tell you that right now because you are!
I would like to invite you to become a part of The National Women’s Ministry of The Prayer Council of the United States as we stand in the
gap and PRAY for everything that involves women: from babies in the womb, to children, prodigals, youth, husbands, marriages, widows, the elderly, and more!
Please contact me if you would like to be a part of this Prayer Team. I will be scheduling a corporate prayer call where we can get to know each other, share needs, and pray!
Please forward this email to other women you think may be encouraged by it and/or may want to join the Prayer Team!
With love, joy, and blessings,
Maryal Boumann, U.S. National Women’s Director
