Happy Mother's Day
from Brainy Betsy
“Mother’s Day is only one week away!” Betsy’s brain was working overtime, but she couldn’t seem to come up with a good gift for her mother. “There’s got to be something special I can do for Mom.” Absently, she pushed her glasses up on her nose as she continued making her list of ideas, but it looked like most of them required more time and money than she had.
Betsy’s older brother, Ethan, was good at sports and had a shelf full of trophies. So when he saw a little trophy statue that said, “World’s Greatest Mom,” he knew that’s what he wanted to give Mom on Mother’s Day. He already had it purchased and waiting in a gift bag.
Betsy wanted to do something special to show Mom how much she loved her too, but what could she possibly do? Sometimes Betsy didn’t think she was good at anything. Betsy had always been smaller than the other kids in her class, and often adults thought she was younger than her ten years. Though her birth certificate said her name was ‘Elizabeth Grace,’ dad had begun calling her Bitsy Betsy from the day she was born, and the name always stuck.
When she got a little older and fell in love with reading, some of the kids at school started calling her Brainy Betsy. She almost didn’t want to admit she had enjoyed writing her book report about George Washington, since some of them would be sure to make fun of her. At least they didn’t call her Bitsy Brainy Betsy! Whenever the neighborhood kids rode bikes or played kickball or tag, Betsy always joined in for a little while, but pretty soon she would be back in her room reading a good book, or writing in her story notebook. That’s what she enjoyed doing the most, and she was always coming up with the best ideas that she didn’t want to forget, so she tried to keep her notebook close at hand all the time.
Betsy’s mom had said, “Don’t worry about what others say, especially when they’re teasing. There might be someone who wishes they were good at reading and writing stories and reports, and wishing school work was as easy for them as it is for you. You should be thankful, not embarrassed about it. You need to stop fretting over the things that other people are good at, and spend that time and effort doing the things you can do best. Use the talents and abilities that God gave to you.”
Another time Mom had said, “Instead of acting embarrassed about being smart, just own it. Be glad that is what others think about you. There are lots worse things to be teased about than being brainy, and if they think it makes you glad instead of sad, maybe they won’t even bother to tease.”
Mom also reminded Betsy about the sermon that Pastor Newman had preached about using your talents and abilities to serve God and serve others. “You are one-of-a-kind, and God wants to use you just like you are. He doesn’t want you to be a paper-doll cut out, look-a-like of anybody else. He made you to be you. Whatever talents and abilities and gifts God gave to you are the ones He wants you to use for His glory.”
‘My mom always has good advice and encouragement for me, and she always cares about how I feel,’ thought Betsy. ‘That’s one of the things I love the most about her.’
‘I wonder if there’s any way to use what I’m good at to show my mom that I love her?’ wondered Betsy, as she stared off into the distance. Pretty soon she had an idea...
Betsy spent the next week with her notebook and calculator and a stack of old magazines. She took a trip to the library and asked Dad to help her look up some things on his computer. After adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, reading, writing, cutting, pasting, coloring, and one trip to the store, she was finally ready to show Mom how much she was loved and appreciated on her special day.
When Mother’s Day came, the whole family was up early getting ready for church, then Ethan and Betsy joined Dad in the kitchen making breakfast. Mom sat at the table smiling and sipping her tea, while wearing the paper crown Betsy had made that said “Queen Mom.” Dad told Mom that they planned to spoil her all day long, so he would be grilling out at lunch time. Ethan presented his gift that declared their family had the World’s Greatest Mom, and then it was Betsy’s turn.
“I tried to follow your advice about using the things I’m good at Mom, but just in case it’s not that good, I brought you this, too.” With a smile Betsy presented a beautiful rose in a vase, along with a poster board that she had folded to make a giant card.
At the top of her card it said, “GOOD JOB, MOM!” Betsy had cut out pictures from magazines showing people doing all kinds of occupations, and written beside each one how much money they earned per hour for their work. Chef, maid, chauffeur, gardener, laundress, seamstress, nurse, counsellor and teacher. The front was covered from top to bottom with pictures and information.
Inside she wrote, “My mom works harder than anyone, spending long hours every day of the week, and does all these jobs and more. Even though she doesn’t get a big paycheck for all the work that she does, she is worth more than all of these people put together. And do you know what she does best of all? She LOVES us! I can’t give my mother enough money to pay her for all that she does, but I can give her all of my love.”
“God’s Word says my mom is worth a lot, too. “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” (Proverbs 31:10) Millions and billions of dollars would not come close to the worth of my wonderful mother. I really, really love you, Mom! Happy Mother’s Day!” And it was signed, “Brainy Betsy”
With tears in her eyes, Mom said thank you, hugged each one in the family, and said, “I think the Lord blessed me with the greatest family in the world, too. I can’t think of any gifts on the planet that would mean so much to me.”
