Honoring My Mother

As my life is defined by my motherhood right now, I've thought more about the ways my mother took her role seriously, and I appreciate her more than ever. This Mother's Day I just want to remember some of the ways that she was and is a great mom.

In 1st grade there was a 6th grade crossing guard who yelled mean things at me and made fun of me in ways that have scarred me to this day. My mother was my hero and called the principal. I never saw that crossing guard again.

I had LOTS of dentist appointments when I was younger, and my mom always made them fun because it was time when I got to hang out with her--just me. We'd usually go out to lunch or something, and sometimes I didn't have to go back to school when they were done. One bad memory about that was the time I decided to take off walking and meet her halfway. We didn't find each other, and everyone was worried...oops.

I have always liked to write--not necessarily stories or interesting contemplations--sometimes just words. When I was about 4 I decided to write down the names of everyone in our church who I knew. One by one I asked her, "How do you spell so-and-so?" She patiently spelled out every person's name in our church, which I then cut out and handed out to them. I remember everyone turning their papers over to look for a note or a picture. Nope. It was just their name. I was so proud.

Speaking of writing words, another time I made a list of bad words in my children's church memory verse notebook. I clearly marked it "words not to say," but we still had to burn it and have a prayer meeting after that one. This is unrelated to being a mommy, really, but it's a funny memory.

So my mother always instilled spiritual values and an appreciation for God's Word. I remember being in trouble about an issue and having to go look up scriptures on the topic. I might have been the only 7-year-old in my class who knew how to use a concordance. No wonder I have a degree in theology. Mom started me early.

Then there's all the practical stuff. When I moved out, Mom taught me how to do a budget. then how to live on a shoestring budget. I remember asking her what I should buy if I only had $2.00 to live on for a whole week. She told me bread and peanut butter, which I'm pretty sure you can't buy for $2.00 now, but I ate a LOT of bread and peanut butter when I had my first job.

She taught me how to shop and look for bargains. I find myself saying, "I could make that for less than this, and it would be cuter." Unfortunately, I have no idea how to make clothes, but I know how to spot quality. She did know how, though. Oh, and she was the best at making doll clothes, and curtains for tiny little doll houses. And hideous camouflage gaucho dresses and neon ones that I picked out the fabric for myself. And when I wanted to go to OBI so bad she made me really cute skirts with no splits. And she gave me all her leftover fabric to make scrunchies for my hair. You just can't even imagine how many scrunchies I made with my mom's machine and fabric scraps!

When I moved out, she bought me tons of groceries and stocked my freezer full of meat. When she came to visit a few months later, all that meat was still there. I had been eating M&Ms for dinner most nights because I didn't really know how to cook. She cooked all that meat for me, put it in individual containers for me so I wouldn't go hungry, and made me watch so I would learn how to cook. Now I love to cook. I'm still learning things from her. Oh, and she she sent me a card so I would have some mail in my lonely little mailbox when I got home from work that 1st day. That made me cry. I cried a lot during that time, huh, Mom? I am married now with 3 kids, and I still get homesick for my family.

When I had my first baby and couldn't get the hang of breastfeeding, she bought me some kind of contraption to help. I have no idea what that was and thankfully I didn't have to use it, but it was so kind and thoughtful to rescue me in my stressful situation. She stayed around to give the baby her first bath when I was too scared to do it. Then when I had more children she and Dad took such great care of the others that I never once worried while I was in the hospital. That meant so much to me since I hated being away from them.

Then when I had the baby blues after my first child was born, she took me shopping for some new clothes so I didn't have to keep wearing maternity clothes. She said, "Let's get something that doesn't scream, 'I'm a nursing mom.'" Then she watched the baby and sent me off with money to get my hair done. Who else knows how to cheer up a girl like a good mom?

The thoughts are coming faster than my fingers can type them, and I'm teary now as I think back on all the memories. I am so blessed to have such a great mother, and now my children get to adore her too. Thanks, Mom, for showing me how to do it and for loving me through the hard years. Thanks for pointing me to Christ and for encouraging me to embrace who God made me to be. Thanks for letting me finally quit piano lessons and volleyball and write stories instead.

I love you!