Mother’s Day

"Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.  She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed;
~Proverbs 31:25 - 28~

Julia Ward Howe made the first known suggestion for a Mother's Day in the United States in 1872. She suggested that people observe a Mother's Day on June 2 as a day dedicated to peace. For several years, she held an annual Mother's Day meeting in Boston. Mary Towles Sasseen, a Kentucky schoolteacher, started conducting Mother's Day celebrations in 1887. Frank E. Hering of South Bend, Ind., launched a campaign for the observance of Mother's Day in 1904.
    

Three years later, Anna Jarvis of Grafton, W. Va., and Philadelphia, began a campaign for a nationwide observance of Mother's Day. She chose the second Sunday in May, and began the custom of wearing a carnation.

At the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1912, a delegate from Andrews Church introduced a resolution recognizing Anna Jarvis as the founder of Mother's Day.

Mother's Day received national recognition on May 9, 1914. On that day, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress recommending that Congress and the executive departments of the federal government observe Mother's Day. The next year, President Wilson was authorized to proclaim Mother's Day an annual national observance.

Many people follow the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day. A colored carnation means that a person's mother is living. A white carnation indicates that a person's mother is dead.

"We were gentle among you, like a mother caring
for her little children."
~1 Thessalonians 2:7~

Facts from Annies HomePage (www.annieshomepage.con/mothersday.html)