Today I remember and celebrate the life of my dear Mother. This was her birthday and the day she entered her eternal home. She has the Lord Jesus to celebrate her birthday with now in person, but I celebrate her life and the impact she had on me, her daughter.
The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful gift, that gift is you, Mother. I thank Him for you and thank you for your love and example you were to me of a godly woman.
The first picture I have of you Mother is you kneeling by the chair in the living room. Each morning when I would come downstairs you would be there. I know my name was on that prayer list that you kept in your Bible. I peeked one time to check that out. Knowing that your prayers have gone before you and have gone behind you has given me much confidence in my everyday routine as a mother.
Another picture I have of you is sacrifice. You sacrificed your desires, your time, even your health for your family as you worked often late into the night doing the daily chores. You sacrificed your time to visit me daily, for hours in the hospital when I was burned, even though you had an infant and 5 other children at home. You sacrificed your desires when you always put your family and guests before yourself.
Another picture I have of you is femininity. You were such a lady, standing tall and beautiful. Even to run out and do a short errand you would change your outfit and shoes, so you would look "presentable."
Another picture I have of you is patience. I was always amazed how you could be so patient in waiting for your husband and sons to come in from the field when a meal was ready, even though they were already 30 minutes or more late. I remember how patient you were when you were trying to teach me how to sew.
"We will just rip this out and start over," you would calmly exclaim.
I loved to hear you sing. You had a beautiful voice. I loved to sing along with you. The chores would go so much faster when we would sing through them.
I think of you as being very creative. You were creative in reaching our neighborhood for Christ. You would take us to sing Easter carols and Christmas carols for shut-ins, and you organized a VBS right on our farm.
Most of all I think of you as my teacher, or mentor, someone I always wanted to be like. You taught me how to do household chores and garden work. Each job you gave me had purpose. I remember I hated ironing those week-day shirts of my brothers, but you knew I would need that skill some day for my own family. Most of all you taught me about God's love as I saw His love flowing from you to all of us. You taught me how to love, how to give, and how to live, by just loving Jesus and being yourself.
Yes, many woman do noble things, but in my opinion, you surpassed them all.
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