Sandra Vincent Forward

A MOTHER'S DAY REFLECTION

I have been a mother four times, blessed with four beautiful girls. If you are a birth mother, you know the challenges that carrying life brings. Those three trimesters each arrive with their own unique, let’s call them, “challenges.”

On the outside, your body is advancing and changing. The changes are visible. While on the inside, organs are being shifted, boundaries are being crossed, and limits are being pushed beyond what one would think is possible. The uterus, what a remarkable thing.

But then there is the heart that grows with love at every flutter, every kick, every roll.

And there comes a time when a mother loses herself. Walking, sitting, sleeping, and even getting up cannot be done without proper positioning. You walk, sit, sleep, and rise with the life you carry constantly in mind.

Then comes the push, the great push, the moment when heaven’s portal brings forth a fully embodied soul into the earth.

And such it is for the rest of your life. Such a small prelude to the cord that will forever bind you to your child.

Today, I thank God for allowing me to be a vessel of life, and I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all who have traveled the journey of motherhood, those who have adopted, and those whom the world has embraced as mothers.

Happy Mother’s Day.

A REFLECTION: Giving Honor, Where Honor is Due

This reflection is for everyone because it is important to remember. But for those who will be triggered, this is more than a reminder.

So he who has an ear, let him hear.

There is a spiritual discipline in giving honor where honor is due. Not convenience. Not preference. Not selective acknowledgment based on comfort or alignment. Honor is not transactional; it is principled.

Scripture is clear in Romans 13:7, give to everyone what is owed, if honor, then honor. That language matters. Honor is not a favor we extend when it is comfortable. It is not a gesture reserved for those we agree with. It is a debt. And when something is owed, it is not optional.

I have learned that honoring someone is not contingent upon agreement, closeness, or even mutual respect. It is rooted in truth. It is rooted in recognizing what is, regardless of how we feel about who carried it out. That is the part many struggle with, because honoring another often requires setting aside ego, insecurity, and the quiet fear that somehow, if they are lifted, we are lowered. Strange math, but it continues to shape behavior.

Before becoming Mayor, I did what I could to ensure honor was given to the past Mayor, through a dedication in my innauguration program booklet, proclamations, acknowledgments, invitations, and formal recognitions. Not because it was required, but because it was right. Even when it was declined, the posture remained. Because honor is not validated by acceptance, it is validated by obedience to principle.

And yet, in this time of reflection, it has become evident that this same principle is often preached but not practiced. “Give honor to whom honor is due” is quoted, but selectively applied, usually when it benefits the speaker. That is not principle. That is performance.

We are witnessing projects rise, foundations laid by previous administrations, by leaders and teams whose fingerprints are embedded in the very structures now being celebrated. And yet, their names and presence are absent. Not because they refused acknowledgment, but because acknowledgment was never extended. Somewhere along the way, public service stopped being viewed as a continuum and started being treated like a competition, as if history resets every election cycle. Not!

That is not governance. That is intentional amnesia with a microphone.

There is also this persistent myth that giving honor diminishes the one who gives it. That somehow recognition is a limited resource, and if you hand it out, you end up with less. That mindset does not just limit individuals, it distorts entire systems. Because when honor is withheld, truth is distorted. And when truth is distorted, legacy becomes fragile.

Let’s be clear, many of the “firsts” in this county did not arrive through open doors. They forced entry. They endured resistance, rejection, and systems not designed to include them. They broke barriers so thoroughly that others now walk through spaces that once required battle armor, with little awareness of the fight that made their access possible.

And now, there is a concerning shift. The very behaviors once challenged are quietly being replicated. The exclusion. The erasure. The selective acknowledgment. It is a strange thing to watch people become what they once protested, like history looping back around, waiting to see if the lesson was actually learned.

So this is not just a reflection. It is a reminder.

When honor is withheld, it does not diminish the one who is owed, it distorts the one who withholds it. It fractures truth, weakens legacy, and breaks the continuity that public service depends on.

Honor is not weakness. It is not optional. It is not seasonal. It is a standard.

And if there is discomfort in reading this, that discomfort should not be ignored. It may be revealing where alignment has been lost.

So again, for those wondering, “is she talking about me?”
If you had to ask, you already know the answer.

Ooow Weee this is going to be epic!!!

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