Mother’s Day is Sunday, and all the good restaurants will be filled with reservations for every table. Florists will be busy filling and delivering orders. And hopefully every mother out there is going to receive the honor and love that she deserves. Although Valentine’s Day is a huge event on many calendars, not everyone has a sweetheart. But when you count up all the mothers, mothers-in-law, and grandmothers out there, most everyone will have someone to honor.

Having said that, if your plans don’t include a meal in a fancy restaurant, a bottle of favorite perfume, or an extravagant flower arrangement, that doesn’t mean you’ll have failed in honoring her the way she deserves. It is sad to realize that, for many, this day is more about overpriced gifts, or cards that drip with excessive sentimentality, than it is about genuine honor and love. Children who ignore and dishonor their mothers by what they say and do the rest of the year sometimes try to band-aid their guilt by making a hollow celebration of this day.

I can tell you from a mother’s heart that what we really treasure is the unexpected phone call when it isn’t a special occasion, the sweet expression of a hug and kiss that delightfully interrupts an ordinary day, or the moment when a child, out of honest concern, asks, “Mom, what can I do for you? How can I help?”

Mother’s Day is practically impossible to miss with all the commercialism and pressure to spend more than necessary. But mothers everywhere know when they are appreciated…

It isn’t the size and of the card, the cost of the flowers, or the meal out that we treasure. It is those special tokens of love throughout the year that tell us the hard work of our mothering and grandmothering is appreciated. My advice to those who want to honor their moms is to tell them on Mother’s Day, but don’t forget to tell them all year long.

I’m sure Greg, Jonathan, and my beautiful daughters-in-love will more than likely hand me a card with a thoughtful inscription and yes, we likely will eat a nice meal somewhere, but I am especially thankful to God that I know they love and honor me in the ways I value above all…and not one of them is for sale on a department store shelf or card rack. It isn’t Mother’s Day that matters most to us moms; it is what you say in a thousand different ways all year.

I am grateful to say I already know they love me, even if they happen to forget Sunday…only I know they won’t…at least they better not!