“Let our Father and Mother be glad and let her who bore you rejoice.”

Proverb 23:25

The following statement is a segment of Kevin Durant, a forward for the Oklahoma Thunder's acceptance speech for the 2014 NBA’s Most valuable player trophy. 

It was an early Mother's Day for Kevin Durant's mom, Wanda Pratt. When her son, a forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, accepted the NBA's 2014 Most Valuable Player trophy, he opened by thanking God, and saying that "basketball is just a platform in order for me to inspire people. When you've got people behind you, you can do almost anything.”  

“Mom—I don't think you know what you did. You had my brother when you were 18-years old; three years later I came out. The odds were stacked against us. A single parent, with two boys by the time you were 21-years-old. Everybody told us we weren't supposed to be here. We moved from apartment to apartment by ourselves. One of the best memories I have is when we moved into our first apartment: no bed, no furniture, we just all sat in the living room and just hugged each other because we thought we made it.”

“I tend to look back to what brought me there—you mom woke me up in the middle of the night in the summertime, making me run up the hill, making me do push-ups, screaming at me from the sidelines at my games [when I was] 8 or 9-years-old. You kept us off the street, put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn't eat, you made sure we ate; you went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You're the real MVP."

Kevin didn’t receive a MVP award because of what he did, but because he listened to what his mama told him.  She was determined to give her children a chance in life to not only succeed, but to enjoy life.  His mama had a dream and she overcame the challenges of giving birth, raising and nurturing a babies, keeping them out of harm's way, and continually instructing them with the truth of God’s Word and promises.  Today, she is a world-renowned motivational speaker.  She has presented on television at the Ford Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, all the way to the White House with many speaking conferences in between.  She’s even had a movie produced about her life.  

Our moms may not be so widely recognized, but they have the same values and ideals as Wanda Pratt.  Our moms were designed and created in God’s image. She was there for us when we didn’t know it.  And if you are one of the those whose mom wasn’t there, rest assured, in some way she was, in heart.  A mother cannot give birth to a child and not be changed.  Babies do something to you that can not be explained.  

This Mother’s Day, you have the opportunity to show your mom she beloved and respected.  If you’re like me and didn’t have a mother who wasn’t nurturing or not there, or your mom is no longer here….give yourself the opportunity to work through your pain and loss, and celebrate your reality that your mom gave birth to your life, and we are the blessed recipients of your existence.  Remember Romans 8:28... God works all things for the good of those who love Him.  

And to all those moms out there… thank you for your courage, devotion, and love to take on the challenge of giving birth, and the daunting task of raising us.  Lord knows, it wasn’t easy!

Father, we all thank You for Your gift of moms everywhere.  No matter how defiant, challenging, or demanding and ungrateful we were, You created moms to love and accept us just as we are.  We ask that You bless all the mothers, wives, sisters, Aunts, grandmothers, and neighbors who loved us through it all, and may Your blessing of wisdom, good health, prosperity and protection follow them all their lives… in the powerful, loving name of Jesus we pray, amen!

TR