It’s Mother’s Day in Thailand! And Som wants to tell you about her mom. 
I want to tell you my story. Some of you know me well, some of you just know me from church, but I also have a story that I’ve never told before. This is the back story, before I became part of the El Shaddai Family here in Sriracha.
Since birth, I’ve had four families. My first home, of course, was my birth mother. I’ve only heard a few sketchy details, so I don’t know the real reason, did she already have a family, or maybe she never meant to have me? Surprise, here I am! I think she was my home for only nine months, I don’t think I ever lived with her.
Apparently my grandparents took me to raise me as their own. This was my second home and naturally I would grow up as their daughter and everything would be fine. But after only three years my grandmother became very sick. My uncle came to get me, I think he was my mother’s older brother. I suppose this aunt and uncle thought it would be good to have a daughter. They had two sons already and wanted to try raising a girl. I say ‘try’ because they took me on a trial basis.
This is the part of the story where my own memory takes over. We were north eastern people, maybe that’s why I look half Cambodian 😉 When my grandmother died, my aunt and uncle proceeded with legal adoption to make me their daughter. They were my third family and in the beginning I felt that life would be smooth from here on. My auntie was looking after me and my uncle was working hard to provide for all of us. I was part of the family. In the adoption process, my surname was changed back to the family name of my mothers side, I felt secure.
When I was about seven years old, my auntie had some kind of change of heart. Somedays she wanted me to call her ‘mom’ other days she insisted I call her ‘auntie’. It was strange and confusing yet I still believed this was my rightful family. I was almost eight years old when we moved from the Northeast down to Sriracha. It was like a new start, my uncle went overseas for work, and my auntie started a little restaurant in our house.
I was fascinated by one house in our new neighbourhood. We would pass that house whenever we went to the market. The sign out front said ‘El Shaddai Children’s Home’. One day my auntie took me for a walk and we stopped at that house and talked to the people there. I met Esther, she was a redheaded girl my age, and we became playmates.
Later that day my auntie began to explain, “This home is a home for orphan kids… and she talked on about what kind of place it was.” I remember thinking, “that’s fine, it has nothing to do with me.” A few years later the El Shaddai Children’s Home moved – to only three doors down the street from us. So I would go and play with the kids there – they had Barbie dolls! I got to know all the kids in the home, never thinking this was to become my fourth home.
Pastor Al had made it very clear to my auntie that they would not receive children above kindergarten age. I now understand how difficult it is for older kids to adjust to such overwhelming change. Then one day my auntie said, “Pack your things.” I asked where I was going and she responded, “You’re moving to Esther’s house.” I asked how many days I should pack for and she said, “Take all your things.” By this time I was 12 or 13 years old, kind of stuck between child and teen. Looking back, I think we had moved to Sriracha because my aunt and uncle were becoming Christians and they had Christian friends here. And they thought that if I could live with the missionaries, my life would be more powerfully influenced for Christ. Eventually it became clear that this was God‘s plan and that my auntie was obeying Him.
Did you know that the book of Genesis talks about Eve, the mother of all living, four times? Family number four must be the perfect one for me. Pastor Al is a soft hearted guy and accepted me into the family. He says it‘s my dimples that got to him. He must’ve known how big this undertaking would be, bringing in a young teen who would have to learn from the beginning in the very basics of all matters of life. And truly, everything was different, the food, language, and the expected behaviour. So now I’ve been part of the El Shaddai family for 16 years and I must say, we are family in the truest sense. They embraced me with my different skin, different background, different everything and I never again felt that separation, even between their natural born and their adopted kids. In 16 those years I have never once felt like an orphan.
‘Four families’ means that I have had to change mothers four times! And mother number four is the one that God had prepared for me. Not that she’s perfect, like any other mother she can be moody and sometimes loses it, and she is sooo forgetful – she pours herself coffee a dozen times a day yet never finishes even one. She is funny but also can be over sensitive, yet in character she rises above the rest: she fears the Lord, shows her love for her husband and inspires her family, not just in talking but in prayer. She gave up the comforts she could have had and married a guy with a vision to serve God in Thailand. Much of the story of her life has gone untold. So far she has given 37 years of her life to Thailand and to looking after her 33 children. Whatever she has given up, she has given up for us.
Older women are to teach the young women to love their husbands and children. They are to teach them to think before they act, to be pure, to be workers at home, to be kind, and to obey their own husbands. In this way, the Word of God is honoured. Titus 2:4-5
That’s my mom, she’s very wise, I love every moment I can be with her. I love her wisdom. She is a Proverbs woman, rises early, keeps an amazing home, loves her family and her husband, and is a great example. I’m sure every one of us want a mother like that, both as our natural mother and our spiritual mother. I am what I am because of her training – she trained us by the Word of God.
I would like to encourage every mother, young or old, that your prayers for your children are not in vain, your encouragements are not in vain. Train them in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it. I am here because of my mom. Even when she complains, it comes from a heart that loves and cares for me. I want to encourage every one today, don’t just let mothers day to be an annual selfie shoot, but understand that the reason my mom is a great example to me is so that I know how to be a great example as a mother too. One day I will be a spiritual mother, and a natural mother. Every one of us can be a good example for others.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Today Som runs a school that ministers to hundreds of kids each year, kids just like her. Would you partner with Som to grow the school and reach more kids? go to www.wmcontinuum.com or email me directly for details. Al Purvis, exec@wmcontinuum.com
