A Mother’s Day Reflection By Dr. Mark L. Vincent

Celebrating a Mother’s Lifelong Influence

With this past Sunday’s Mother’s Day in mind, Maestro-level leaders Founder Dr. Mark L. Vincent wrote this reflection. Today we share it with you! It was initially written for the Maestro-level leader cohort participants that receive a brief, perspective-setting note each Sunday as one resource for the cadence of the Third-Turn Journey.

_________

“Do not despise, do not dishonor your mother. For ten long months she bore you in her womb, and when she gave birth to you she was at the point of death.” -Sentences of the Syriac Menander, 96-98

The week of 7-14 May, wherever it might fall, holds a lot of markers for me. This note comes to you on 14 May 2023–Mother’s Day–after this year’s version of such a week. I turned 60, and my mother had her 79th birthday. My first wife, Lorie, and I would have celebrated 39 years of marriage if she had lived.

These events, combined with the above thoughts from an ancient collection of wise sayings, have me thinking of my mother’s ability to engage in decades-long if not lifelong, projects–ones that bring a person to the point of bodily sacrifice. Frankly, her birthing of me is reflected in this Syriac saying, as my XXL head gave enough physical trauma that she needed further post-partum hospitalization.

But my mom did not merely “have children.” Instead, she invested and sacrificed further to raise adults.

Similarly, she and my dad did not just hold a wedding celebration. Instead, she plighted her troth to my father. She kept adjusting to him across 60 years of marriage. She said goodbye to him just before this past Christmas after five years of sitting by his bedside, companioning him through his vascular dementia.

And she did not merely live in a house. She always provided a home, gardens, abundant flowers, tasteful decorations, and a disciplined yet tasty diet.

I need to look no further than her to find a model of not just starting a mission-centered enterprise but sacrificing for it–blood and gristle–so that others may have increasing hope for their lives.

Because of her, I know what decades-long patience and cultivation look like, along with harvesting fruit worth waiting for. I also have a portrait in front of me of a life well-lived.

Thank you, Mom.

“Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.” – Proverbs 7:4

####

Dr. Mark L. Vincent is the Founder of Design Group International and the Society for Process Consulting. He hosts the Third Turn Podcast and facilitates Maestro-level leaders.

---

Are you entering your third turn of leadership?

It may be time to intentionally prepare for what comes next!

Learn More about Maestro-Level Leaders

---