My mother always offered encouragement and was always positive. Whenever she felt that I was feeling afraid, lonely or doubtful…she would say to me, ”Baby-girl”, you are God’s child; pray about it and understand that I gave you back to God on the day that you were born.”

The revelation of the depths of those words was not understood until much later in my life through dark times and even darker times. After all the years of hearing those words, her message became clear on the day that I heard her doctor’s ask her if she understood what seemed to them and everyone else in the room to be devastating news. The doctors said to my Mom, ”You have stage four pancreatic cancer, which means you may have months or even weeks left to live, we can’t be sure.” She simply replied, “Yes, doctor, I understand.“ Apparently, a response of that nature coming from a 79 year old woman made the four doctors a little uneasy. So one of her doctor’s asked my mother if she would please explain back to them what she had understood them to say to her. My mother restated exactly what they had said her diagnosis and prognosis were and added at the end of her sentence..”BUT, I am GOD’S CHILD.” Something spiritually powerful happened in that hospital room that day…eyes became teary and most of us stood still not knowing how to respond. As for me, I felt an indescribable PAIN in my heart. Time seemed to stand still and my thought processes ceased. However, beneath all of that hurt and heartbreak I sensed that those very horrifying moments were not about my mom but instead, about everyone else in that room who did not understand what it meant to know in their hearts what was created as their essence was their souls.

The lesson: We are God’s creations and with that should come Joy and Gratitude.

Peace comes from understanding that the most precious gift of LIFE that one can give him or herself in this universe, is allowing oneself to have FAITH and believe in a power larger than oneself.

On this Mother’s Day, my prayer is that we will all strive to discover our purpose in this life and strive to believe in or hearts, without doubting, that we actually are…GOD’S CHILDREN.

My mother lived for three more years after that stay in the hospital. Far longer than what the doctors had predicted she would. This Mother’s Day, I am so grateful for having had a mother who loved me enough to teach me that it does not matter what other people think of me nor does it matter what others believe, as long as I never allow those perceptions to cause me to lose my FAITH in God.

She taught me and so many others through her actions and deeds about the importance of love, generosity and unrelenting faith.

Thank you so much Mama and HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL!

– Daphne Knox McClain