Mother’s Day Joy

I lived apart from my parents since I entered high school. They sent me to one of the prestigious high school in a big city back in Indonesia. I came from a remote city (Dumai). Technically, Dumai is not really small. It is actually the number one oil producing city in Indonesia. However, the pace of growth is very slow. Up until today, there is no entertainment in the area. Businesses are mainly servicing basic needs (food, clothes, education, transportation, etc).

I have no confidence in sending packages to my parents. Most of the time, the packages were lost. It has been a public knowledge back in my state (Riau) that any packages coming from the US will be opened by the local service provider in the capital city of the state (Pekan Baru). If the people who work in the office like the content of the packages, they will keep the packages.

I have tested the service multiple times in the past. None had passed the test. I was very skeptical in sending another package. However, I felt such a strong urgency to celebrate the Mother’s day with my mom. Initially I was thinking of sending a card since this always got delivered though normally it took one month to get there. I was very busy one month prior to the day that I forgot to buy the card and sent it.

I had only three weeks left at that time. I was very sad. My husband told me that I could try to send flowers to her. I searched for the best flower with a reasonable price. I finally found one website based in Singapore. The customer rep emailed me asking for extra shipping cost due to the remote location. The company didn’t have a partner in the town. They had to ask the partner in Pekan Baru to deliver it to my hometown.

Riau normally has high temperature throughout the year. The distance between Dumai and Pekan Baru is 3-4 hours away. They needed to do a special care to make sure the flowers didn’t wither away along the route. I thought of canceling the whole thing and just called her up on the day. Fortunately, I didn’t do that. I expressed my skepticism with the customer rep. He assured me it would be delivered on time and I did not need to worry.

Since I was busy with work and ministry, I completely forgot about this. On the day it was delivered, I was feeling sick so I went to bed earlier. Just as I entered the sleep stage, my mom called. The flowers were delivered on time and in a very good condition.

She was very touched and full of joy. I have never done this before. I was raised not to express such feelings. Therefore, I never even thought of doing it. Ever since I got married, I realized that I needed to express my feelings. Hearing her joyful voice really warmed my heart. She has been longing to have her children expressing love to her. I am glad that I can show her how much I love and appreciate her.