date: july 17, 2007; tuesday
published in: d2y2 magazine / d2y2 online
url: from the art, to the heart
by Cheryl Mohan
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day ended not too long ago. I remembered back when I was at Sunday school, my teacher would teach each of us to make something during handicraft session and ask us to write a special note to our parents so that we can present it to them as a gift for that special day. The handicrafts became harder to make as we grew older. From just colouring a picture of a flower, decorating it with gold dust and pasting it on a straw, I remembered that there was one year I had to literally plant a flower in a pot. Of course, the poor flower did not survive long and I came home with gold dust all over me. And I doubt that pleased my mom much.
Sunday school season ended for me. I became too old for it. And so the handicrafts stopped. No more flowers for mummy on Mother’s Day. No more self-made picture frames for daddy on Father’s Day. No more bright red hearts and stickman pictures that supposedly represent my parents. Mind you, I was never an artist so stickmen were my best attempts. Instead of making gifts, I resorted to buying them instead. Fewer headaches, looks nicer and plus, it’s the thought that counts, right? After all, I did get my parents gifts to show that I appreciate them and that I knew when exactly was Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
Okay, my point is this: my gifts didn’t show that I loved my parents more or any less. In fact, I only gave them gifts because I felt that it was a ‘proper’ thing to do to make the day a little more special. And on a side note, I have nothing against giving gifts.
But frankly, how many of us have a close relationship with our parents? By close relationship I mean to say that we share 
with them about the happenings of our life. Maybe we were close to them when we were younger, but what about now when we are older? I’ve heard and know friends who remark that they barely have a relationship with their parents because of various reasons. And instead of waiting of our parents to spend time with us or even show their love to us, why don’t we as children take the first, and second, and third and the tenth initiative to do so.
Show you love and care for them all year round. Not just through giving gifts but through your actions. Love your parents by honouring them (Deut 5:16). And by honouring them it means that we respect them through our way of conduct and behaviour (Prov 28:7), we speak well of them (Prov 30:11-17), we listen (Prov 1:7-9) and obey them (Eph 6:1-2), and we take care of them (Prov 19:26, 10:5) and do not give them unnecessary cause to worry.
“Romance fails us and so do friendships, but the relationship of parent and child, less noisy than all others, remains indelible and indestructible, the strongest relationship on earth.”—Theodor Reik
About the author: Cheryl loves the sight of lightning flashing through her window and the sound of thunder. Uniquely also, she has preference for melted chocolate.
But even all that could not do full justice to the exact feelings of these missionaries and their families during those difficult times. Although those young men were murdered within days of their first attempt to connect to the Waodani tribe, nevertheless their labour was not in vain as over time, Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint (Nate’s sister) succeeded in bringing the gospel to them. Today, not only is the tribe transformed but the missionaries now considers the Waodanies who murdered their loved ones as their own family.
