Happy Mother's Day

Dear Friends,
Today is Mother's Day; a day of great joy for me personally. Both of my daughters are out of state today and so we are not able to be together. However, I know that they will both be calling me sometime today to wish me a Happy Mother's Day and to tell me they love me.
This day is probably the most emotional day of the year; many are joyful and nostalgic about today. Others, because of various situations experience deep sorrow, regret, or loneliness on this day. The emotions we feel on this day have to do with our experience in the area of motherhood; very few people do not experience some type of strong emotions related to this day.
I am thankful that I have two beautiful, loving, Christian daughters; I have been blessed.
However, I think of the mothers today in the country of Tanzania where there is no holiday that honors them. Few of them see all of their children grow to be healthy adults; there is a very high mortality rate among infants and children in most African countries. Mothers watch helplessly while their children who are born with complications die because they do not have health care available to them. Many of them watch their children die because of diseases and illnesses that are preventable and curable; but they do not have the money to buy the medicines or medical care that they need to survive.
I have known women whose husbands sent them away or took another wife because they were not able to bear children for their husbands. In Tanzania, it is a great shame for a woman to be barren. I have often prayed with women across Tanzania who were barren and came to me in desperation asking me to pray that God would give them children. I have seen some of these women bear children and have seen them rejoicing because God has blessed them.
I feel blessed today that I was born and that my children were born in a country where we had health care available to us. I look forward to the time I can return to Tanzania and again have the opportunity to minister to the incredible women of that country.
Be blessed today!
Joyce Jarvis