Mothers....We speak your name and we honor you

As we approach Mother's Day, I am reminded of all the wonderful things that my mother taught me.  I think of how she loved on, fasted for and prayed over me.  I am so grateful!  Though Mommy has been gone 2 years now, I can still hear her words of wisdom.  I can still hear her laugh.  I still see her silly little faces she would make for the camera.  I can still hear her calling out to God to save her family and sometimes just crying when she thought about the goodness of Jesus.  The songs that she wrote are stamped on my heart and I can still see how she would rare back and squal when the song got good to her. And when it got good to her...it was good for everyone else listening. I can still see her shout across the church in her stilettos and leave the choir hanging.  ("Excuse me sister choir director, what are we supposed to sing while you are dancing in the corner?" I'm just sayin'...)  All of that is my Mommy and all of Mommy is in me.  I tell people this often...2 weeks before she transitioned, she was pronouncing the benediction over her own life as she was praying an invocation over mine.  Invoking the spirit of God to rest, rule and reign over my life as I would go forth and do that which He has called me to do.  She was some kind of woman!

So this Mother's day I continue to honor the legacy of a woman who was the bomb.com and I speak her name, Nelda J. Mattison.

I'm reminded of a song performed by Pastor Shirley Caesar, called "No Charge".  As you read the lyrics, I want you to think of that Mother, Grandmother, Step-mother, Auntie, Sister, Godmother, Neighbor, Cousin, or any other mother-figure.  We thank her for not giving up on us, even when we were selfish and self-absorbed. They never charged us for advise, hugs and words of wisdom......all they did was love us...and at no cost.

Here are the lyrics, written by songwriters: Leon Ashley and Margie Singleton.

My sister's little boy came into the kitchen
One evening while she was fixing supper
And he handed her a piece paper
He had been writing on

And after wiping her hands on an apron
She took it in her hands and she read it
And this is what it said

For mowing the yard, five dollars
And for making up my own bed this week, one dollar
For going to the store, fifty cents
And playing with little brother while you went shopping, twenty-five cents

Taking out the trash, one dollar
And for getting a good report card, five dollars
And for raking the yard, two dollars
Total owed, fourteen seventy-five

Well, she looked at him standing there and expecting
And a thousand memories flashed through her mind
So she picked up pen and turned the paper over
And this is what she wrote

For the 9 months I carried you
Growing inside me, no charge

For the nights I sat up with you
Doctored and prayed for you, no charge

For the time and the tears and the costs through the years
There is no charge
When you add it all up the real cost of my love
Is no charge

For the nights filled with dred
And the worries ahead, no charge

For the advice and the knowledge
And the costs of your college, no charge

For the toys, food and clothes
And for wiping your nose there's no charge son
When you add it all up the real cost of my love
Is no charge

When you add it all up the real cost of my love is NO CHARGE! 

NO CHARGE!
NO CHARGE!
NO CHARGE! 

So for every Mother who has sacrificed so that her children could have a different experience and become all that they were purposed to become...

We speak your name and we honor you!
We speak your name and we honor you!

We speak your name and we honor you!

We speak your name and we honor you! 

Now go wish someone a Happy Mommy's Day and walk it out...........