If you are a parent, you know that your children are born with this innate ability to bring tears to your eyes unexpectedly and without restraint. Yesterday afternoon, my oldest daughter exercised that ability in one of the sweetest and most loving ways possible.

On Monday evening during a relentlessly exhausting and patience-trying quest to get school supplies for both of my children, my attention was snagged and my mission abruptly diverted. I literally stopped in the middle of the isle and inhaled sharply as I saw a special commemorative edition of Time Magazine entitled Mother Teresa at 100 – The Life and Works of a Modern Saint.

My fascination with Mother Teresa started a few years ago when I heard Shane Claiborne speak of serving alongside her in Calcutta. Her selfless love for others and her ability to serve beyond all boundaries has long held my heart. In my quest to know more about the Nobel Peace Prize winning saint, I added to my library the book Mother Teresa – Come Be My Light. It is in this collection of letters that the world learned of the desert she existed in while serving in Calcutta – she literally wrote,“as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ... I want you to pray for me — that I let Him have [a] free hand." Mother Teresa felt distance between herself and God – quite literally her own desert. And yet she still served, still loved and still smiled as if she were the most divinely-connected human since Christ’s return.

As you have probably guessed, the gift my oldest bestowed upon me that produced tears was a copy of that magazine. She secretly contacted a family friend and inquired their help in purchasing and delivering the gift so that she could present it to me herself.

Together, we sat down and began pouring through the heart, ministry and life of Mother Teresa. I eagerly pointed out the gnarled hands of service so visible in many of the photos. I read to her details of family members and fellow servants as well as those blessed by her ministry. We discussed deep spiritual things like Call and self-deprecation for the betterment of God’s people. We explored together Mother Teresa’s own feelings of abandonment and how we all, at times, feel that same way. I shared with my children some of my most prized possessions – cards and pamphlets a friend brought to me from Mother Teresa’s grave.

Today, August 26, 2010, would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday. Her life of service and dedication are what she is best known for. Using the name she was called as a child (her middle name), I celebrate her life and example to us all with one of her quotes:
 
"What you do, I cannot do and what I can do, you cannot do. But together we can do something beautiful for God.”

May we all, every day, work together to do something beautiful for God.