My Children Mother's Day May 14, 2006

Mothers.  Where would we be without them? Ha! They teach their children many things, but here are a few things that Mom’s learn from their children:

1. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

2. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape

3. A six year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year-old man says they can only do it in the movies.

4. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "Uh-oh", it's already too late.

Then there are those few things that you would never hear a mother say:

1. "How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?"

2. "Well, if Timmy's mom says it's OK, that's good enough for me."

3. "I don't have a tissue with me... just use your sleeve."

4. "Don't bother wearing a jacket - the wind-chill is bound to improve."

5. "Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week."

Then there are those things that some children say when asked specific questions about Mom, like:

1. Why did God make mothers?  She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. What ingredients are mothers mad of ? Go makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world AND on dab of mean!

3. What kind of little girl was your Mom?  They say she USED to be nice.

4. Who's the boss at your house? Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

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Of course I was such a good son that my mother never had to worry about any of that.

My mother was born in California. That’s California, Pennsylvania. Her birth certificate says her name is Vasiliki Nicolulis, my Grandfather nicknamed her Vasue, but everyone just calls her Sue. She’s Greek. Actually she is half Greek and half Italian. But she is proudest of her Greek heritage and doesn’t hesitate to tell you so. Her father, Trefon, (“Thomas” to you and me) was a poor Greek shepherd who immigrated to this country in the early 1900’s. He married an Italian immigrant, Phyllis Encapera, and they proceeded to produce and raise an American family of 9 children in New York City; California, Pennsylvania, and, eventually, Kansas.

Mom was raised in this large family with a Greek father who never lost his accent (God bless him), nor did he lose all of his itinerate Greek shepherd ways. She has lots of great memories and a right to be proud of her heritage. In her formative years back east, she and her siblings lived within the Greek-American community and attended Greek School as well as the American school. She has taken several trips back to the “old country” with some of her sisters and brothers. On these trips they have visited many of our relatives that remain in Greece.

I must admit that I never really got wrapped up in things Greek (much to Mom’s dismay). But a few years ago She recommended a book by the Greek-American author, Nicholas Gage (his Greek name was unpronounceable by Americans, so he changed it for us). To satisfy Mom, I took the book home and read it. I was surprised. I enjoyed it, it was a good book; so good in fact that a movie was made from it.

The book is titled, “Eleni” and is a true story about Nicholas Gage’s mother and her struggle to raise her five children in Greece during and after World War II. The children’s father, Christos, had emigrated to the United States in the early 1900’s (just like my grandfather), but Christos stuck more to the Greek traditions and later returned to his Greek village, temporarily, to choose a wife. His new wife, Eleni, felt a need to remain in Greece after the marriage to take care of her parents; so their relationship was a long distance one. Christos returned occasionally for extended conjugal visits; thus the five children. Christos sent money back to Greece often to support his family. But then the war hit.

Eleni and her children lived in a fairly decent house by Greek hill country standards, but probably a shack by our standards.  No running water   etc.  With no money coming from America during the various Italian and German occupations of the war, she struggled fiercely to find enough food to feed her hungry children. Then after the World War was over, believe it or not, things got worse! A Greek civil war pitted Greeks against Greeks. Starvation was real. Children were being taken from what was left of their homes to be put into labor camps. Eleni refused to let this happen to her children. She planned an escape that would take her and her family to safety and hopefully get them to their father in America. But at the last minute, the plan failed. Eleni and one daughter were captured; but the other four children managed to get to safety with relatives, but still remained in Greece.

Eleni was imprisoned with 13 others in a tiny underground room beneath her own squalid house. She was tortured in attempts to find her children. She was thought to be rich by Greek standards because of her Greek-American husband, so she was also tortured to tell where her riches were hidden. Her only “riches” were her oldest daughter’s small dowry of various household items that had been buried for “safekeeping”. She eventually gave the location of this dowry. But even that was worthless now, because when it was dug up it was found to be heavily water damaged. She never gave up the location of her children.

In the end, Eleni, 9 year old Nicholas’ Angel and mother, battered, bruised, starved, and barely able to walk was dragged from the horrors of her confinement, lined up with several others and shot dead. But before the shots rang out, a scream rang out. It was Eleni’s scream. She screamed the words: “DIKOS MOU PAIDIA” (“MY CHILDREN!”)  To the very end, this mother thought only of her precious children and beseeched God to take care of them.

So why am I giving a book report today? Well, it’s Mother’s Day. And this is a book describing one mother’s devotion to her children. This is a day that we honor our mothers and the gifts and sacrifices that they have made for us. The strength and power that God has instilled in mothers is awesome. God watches over all of His children first through the mother. The animal kingdom abounds in examples of mother love and devotion. There’s the mother bird who swoops down out of the sky at predators that endanger their fledglings, the mother bear that will take on all comers to ensure the safety of her young, and mule deer moms that band together to fend off hungry coyotes after their fawns. They are all willing to sacrifice for their children. 

The sacrifice that Eleni gave for her children reminds me of another sacrifice. It reminds me of the sacrifice that we acknowledged just a month ago. This other sacrifice was also for the children. It was for all of the children of God. The sacrifice was made to show that the evil one could not take possession of the children of God. The sacrifice was made so that none would ever be without hope again.

Like her son, Nicholas’, documentation of Eleni’s battle to save her children, this other sacrifice has also been documented thoroughly. It has been documented by fellows like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul to name just a few. Eleni’s sacrifice also reminds me that this other sacrifice ended with scream. It was not a scream of despair or prayer, however. It was a scream of triumph; of joy. It was a great shout of one word, “TETELESTAI”. It was one word that has been heard around the world. In English, this word means “IT IS FINISHED!” and it was spoken as Jesus gave up his human life for mankind. This word of Jesus’ was a statement to God and the world saying that the old prophecies have come to pass and it is time for a new beginning. The physical death of Jesus gave birth to a new hope; a new religion. 

The results of Eleni’s sacrifice were not finished either. Mr. Gage went on to write a sequel to his first book. “A Place For Us” is another factual book and it documents the answer to Eleni’s fervent prayer for her children.  She had wanted her children to be safe and to go to America to be with their father. In his sequel, Mr. Gage tells of how this came to pass and all the problems encountered crossing the great ocean by ship in 1949 and, at 9 years old, meeting his father for the first time. He details the intricacies of the Greek-American culture as they melted together with all of the other cultures on this side of the ocean. He describes the agonies and the triumphs of an extended family bound together by ancient traditions and love. None of this would have been possible without Eleni. This mother’s life and sacrifice were not in vain. Her sacrifice ensured the continuation of the lives of her children, her children’s children, and who-knows-how-many descendants to come. The difference that one person can make to the world is incredible. This book, “A Place for Us”, describes the answer to a mother’s prayer and a reason to hope. 

There is another book that describes a reason to hope. It describes the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. It describes “a place for us”, as well. It tells of a promised land with a mansion for each of us. And it describes the path that needs to be taken to get to that place.  As in the experiences of Mr. Gage’s family, there will be agonies as well as triumphs along this path. But we have an advantage over his family. They were never sure whether they would be successful in getting to where they wanted to be. You and I can be certain that we will reach our goal. The path to our goal has been mapped out. And we have a guide that translates that map for us. All that we need to do is to keep our guide in sight so that we don’t lose our way. Like the shepherds in those Grecian hills and mothers everywhere, Jesus’ love for us, his sheep and his children, knows no bounds.

Eleni’s story is one of a mother’s love and sacrifice. And it is a story of a son’s love and the appreciation for that sacrifice. How can we show the same kind of love and appreciation to our Savior? We can best honor our Mothers and our Savior by remembering their sacrifices; remembering that those sacrifices were made for us so that we could carry on. They would want us to carry on their love; the love of family, the love of God, and they would want us to share that love with our brothers and sisters of the world.

Revelations 21:6-7 … "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be .... DIKOS MOU PAIDIA … my children.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. Thanks for bringing me into THIS life; and thank you, Jesus, for showing me the way into the NEXT life.  AMEN