May 08, 2004
A Tribute to My Mom...
As another Mother's Day approaches, I can't help but think about what a great mom I have. There is so much to say about her, it's hard to know where to begin.....
My mom has always been there for me. When I was growing up, she was the kind of mom that believed her place was in the home, cooking, cleaning the house, washing and ironing our clothes--all that less-than-glamorous stuff that many women of my generation pay to have done. And back in those early days, we didn't have a clothes dryer, so she would hang load after load out on the clothesline in the backyard. Winter, spring, summer, and fall, hot or cold, she would beat a path out to the clothesline to make sure her family had clean clothes to wear.
My mom was more than a housewife though. She helped me study for tests; she helped me with projects I needed to do for school; and every day when I came home from school, there she was, ever faithful to her family.
Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money. We had everything we needed; we never went without the necessities of life. But there was at least one time when my mom sacrificed something she needed--like a new dress for church--because I needed something for school. I have never forgotten that. But that's just the kind of person my mom is.
My mom is never hateful or rude, harsh or uncaring. In fact, I've hardly ever heard a negative word from her regarding other people. On the contrary, she is generous, kind, loving, thoughtful, dependable, hard-working--all those things you want your mom to be. But more than that, she is a mom who prays for her children--and for all those close to her heart. She has been a woman of great faith for at least as long as I've known her. She was always faithful to serve at church (serving in the nursery for over 30 years), to help someone in need, or to give of whatever she had to others. In those ways she has lived out her faith on a daily basis as a model of Christ to me and the rest of our family.
There were a few years in my 20's that I strayed from the Lord, but I know without a doubt that my mother prayed for me--probably every day. She probably still does! I love that about her. She may not have a Ph.D in anything, but she knows where to take the cares of this world. She knows Who holds life and death and everything else in the palm of His hands, and she trusts Him with it all.
Again, what a great model for me to have in this life....
So, for Mother's Day I have to say that I am highly blessed and favored by the Lord to have been given such a sweet mom. I am grateful beyond words for the gift He's given me in my mom. And I am grateful to her for all the ways she has loved me, all the times she has prayed for me, and for all the days I've been privileged to call her my mom.