MOM, I Celebrate You!
I celebrate my mother this mother’s
day-weekend, not only this weekend but everyday! As I am writing, I began to reflect back on
what my mother has accomplished and what she had to give up and let go. I reflect on stories of hardship and struggles
and I joyfully reflect on her laughter, her singing and her funny dances when
she got all tickled inside, while making her children laugh. My MOM, a daughter, a
student, a worker, a mother, a disciplinarian, a teacher, an educator, a
learner, an entrepreneur, a warrior, a helper, a giver, a lover, a believer, a
supporter, a no-non-sense woman, a lady, one who encourages, a beautiful woman, a
Proverbs 31 woman, the first apostle-prophet-evangelist-pastor-teacher God has
given my family; and yes, she is a Woman With A Mandate!
A Woman with a Mandate! She was given a charge, a command, an order,
with authority from the Royal Throne Room of Heaven to raise her children,
establish her territory, to establish laws and decrees in her household to set
order. Her assignment came from God! Her anointing came from God! Her mantle came from God, and YES, her charge came
from God! Her mantle didn't come with
all pink and red roses or gold trims with shinny beads attached to it. No! In
the beginning it may have started out bright and white, unblemished and stained
free: it certainly didn't come with the
entire instruction manual on how to raise children sewn in the seams. The mantle she carries has some wear-n-tear in
it, some spots and wrinkles on it and even some tears of joy and sorrow on the
cuffs and maybe up the sleeves from the many nights she prayed her family through the storms of life
all the while she was trying to start her own business . Her mantle even has blood
stains that cascade to the bottom of the hem as she was in the trenches,
because of the battle with the enemy, she would not relent. God would bring her out and clean her off and
smile at her because she gave the devil a black eye.
My mother, Priscilla Embry's quiver was full, with 6 children born and raised in Detroit, MI: Tandy, Willie,
Clyde and Claudette-Twins (a.k.a. Bonnie and Clyde), Karen and Kevin-Twins
(Kevin home with the Lord). We all laugh
when we think about how our friends would come to our home, when we were small
children, asking if my mother could come out and play-you see, she was well
known and the life of the block! One funny incident I recall was when she was
getting in our cases for not putting things up where they belong: and out of
her frustration, with her eyes squinting in an angry face, she began to yell at
us and said, “How many times I have to tell y’all to put the comb & brush
in the refrigerator!” We all looked at
our mother liked, “huh!” When she
realized what she had said, she released the angry face and burst out laughing
and so did we. Well, the scolding was
over by then. We all got on her nerves
that day (I’m laughing as I’m sitting here thinking about it and typing). She made sure my sister and I had whatever
doll or doll house we wanted, cookware oven, or roller skates we wanted and the
boys had all the army men toys, matchbox cars, basketball, football and
whatever fixer-upper—electrical repair kits my brothers asked for. As a little girl I would run all over the
yard and pulled up all the dandelions out of the grass (not knowing they were
weeds), put them in a bunch to give to her as flowers. Of course they withered and died quickly because I hid them in the closet the day before to surprise her on Mother’s Day—only
to go back out and do it all over again.
She never said a word or complained-no disdain, because she knew my
heart; only to say, “Thank you baby” and give me a hug. Now I give her roses or tulips or a beautiful
arrangement of flowers to express my thanks and love!
Her plight wasn't easy though—working
two jobs to make ends meet, on welfare (back then it was called A.D.C. Aid for
Dependent Children, but the street term was “Absent Daddy Club”) because our
father was not around. She cried tears
of joy when we all graduated from high-school and some from college. She cried tears of indifference when two of
my older brothers went away to the military to come back home—then the Government
tried to take them away and place them in the Persian Gulf War, but God said, “Not
So!” and they didn't go. She surely
thanks God for his protection over us daily; from not being a statistic and succumbing
to violence in the streets of Detroit; or from the violence of angry cops! Surely Heaven and the host of Angels are
applauding her for not giving up and throwing in the towel when she had all of
us as she went through the cycles of life with each and every child: from the
death of one (crib death at two months old), to the warfare and harsh blows of arguments and
fights. Sometimes she liked us and
sometime not! All five of us were no-saint-of-a-child
either! We’d argue with her, disagreed with her, slammed doors, leave the home,
held a grudge, pointing the finger when we didn't understand or was trying to
make our voices be heard and all for what?
And she still would say, “I’m not giving up on y’all”! One of her children went through Bone Cancer,
another domestic violence, another, a heart attack, Viral Bacterial Disease,
and food poisoning. Some dealt with bitterness, un-forgiveness and anger, to say the least.
With a tenacious look on her face clutching her purse as though she had
her “gloc” in there, my mother said, “No devil, you can’t have them!” Oh boy, the challenges mother had faced!
My mom is getting older, all of
her children are in our upper to late 40’s the eldest will be 50 this year. She
wears her life’s lines well-the wrinkles on her face are more pronounced along
with the gray hairs, yeah, that’s because of the wisdom this matriarch has. She
is looking more beautiful than ever, day by day. I used to get upset because she wasn't moving
as fast as she used too; didn't want to accept the fact that she’s getting
older, life is continuing its ebb, its flow. I have to say this and see it as
an upgrade and not a decline, as the dictionary states. At times she has a lot of pep in her step and
when she’s feeling ill her pep, it gets left!
My mom is still young, 66 as I write.
With more life and more Ideas she has and more love to give to her
children. She’s wearing her crown of
life now here on this earth and I’m grateful. I celebrate you. I honor you. I love you. I cherish you. I thank you!
I dedicate this letter to you, Priscilla
Embry, daughter of Willie and Florence Mae Jenkins and truly, Daughter of the
Most High God. Mom, your pulpit was your
home and your voice is truly heard with your built in mega phone; yelling out all
of your children’s names to arrest us when we go astray, to cheer us on when we
are doing well from day to day! You didn't ask for riches or fame, all you asked God for was to keep us and guide us and
that we would love each other. God has
and still is answering your prayers mom. Your quiver was full and out of us all came grand-children and great-grand children, (I guess this does make you very rich-a couple of 'grands' isn't so bad after all). One is married and the others are not, however, waiting for prayers to be answered and I know that time is coming very soon and we all will rejoice and shout! Mom, your fame is going throughout the Heaven's, more vast than the world could see and your family shall call you blessed, now this is fame at its best! You deserve this Mother’s day Acknowledgement, not only on this day but
every day.
On this day, Sunday, May
10, 2015 I Honor you and Celebrate you! You
truly are a Woman With A Mandate!
Love you-Your Daughter,
Claudette Embry
Embrace!
