By Gifty Amofa
Accra, May 12, GNA – Mothers have been urged to live exemplary lives for children to emulate.
Mrs Benedicta Antwi, wife of Reverend Michael Antwi, Senior Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Pokuase, gave the advice during the Mother’s Day celebration in Accra.
She said children and those mentored should have “a new version of them every year,” stressing that mothers or female role models must be disciplined, patient, tactful, and handle issues with wisdom to transform generations.
Mrs Antwi described women as life shapers who nurture, teach, correct, and, in the case of godly women, cover families with prayers.
She cited biblical examples, including Moses’ mother, who entrusted her child to God despite pressure to give him up.
“Mothers should also entrust their children to God and not be emotional, noting that God’s nature is expressed through His character – love, kindness, consistently being faithful and the like, knowing that children learn from adults by their actions,” she said.
Mrs Antwi explained that the initiative of Mother’s Day originated in the United States of America, when Anna Jarvis in 1908 held a memorial service for her mother, Ann Jarvis, a social activist who nursed soldiers during the civil war and founded Mothers’ Day Clubs.
Three years after the civil war, Ann Jarvis organised a Mothers’ Friendship Day to promote reconciliation between Union and Confederate veterans and their families.
When Anna was 12 years old in 1876, she witnessed her mother offer a prayer at the close of a Sunday School class, expressing her wish for someone to establish a memorial day.
Anna never forgot her mother’s prayer and, after her death in 1905, began writing letters and advocating for the day to be celebrated annually.
On May 12, 1908, a Mother’s Service Day was held in Virginia in honour of her mother.
Within five years, almost every state was observing the day, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared it a national holiday.
The idea later spread globally, blending with local traditions and customs.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey