Tuesday, May 5, 2020

30. Growing in Prayer – The Learning Tree - Tribute to My Mother


28 “Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:  29 “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.”  Proverbs 31:10-31

It will be Mother’s Day this coming weekend, May 10, 2020.   The Bible tells us to honor our father and mother that it may go well with you (Ephesians 6:1-3).  Mothers are irreplaceable….good, bad or indifferent . . . . They are irreplaceable.   I know my Mother is to me.  She was my friend, soulmate, and confidant.  She was my Mother. 

She exemplified my Heavenly Father’s forgiveness.   She would fight a circle saw for me when I was right and when I was in the wrong, she let me know in uncertain terms.  We did not always get along through the years, but we loved each other through it all.  When the chips were down, she stood in defense of me and carried my banner.

Mother was a lady with great dignity often showing her stoic English bearing and her physical stature of the Dutch.  She often called herself the Dutch woman.  Meaning she was short and stout.  To me she was beautiful.

My first memory of Mother was when I was about two.  We were in church and I was standing in the pew beside her….her arm was around me, and she was singing to the roof tops.  Mother was a presence of warmth and security.  It seems she was light.

Most of all I remember her hands.  She had exceptionally large hands as soft as velvet.  When I was a little girl her hand covered my back as she rubbed Grandma Freeman’s miracle cure for congestion, sore throats, and what “ails you.” 

She worked constantly for the comfort of her family.  She literally loved and patted her
cooking on to the table for us.  Her hands cleaned, washed our clothes in black wash pots in the back yard, yet those big hands made the delicate embroidery, tucking, and smocking on the beautiful clothes I wore.  She always sang or hummed while she worked.  She worked outside the home and I remember waking in the dark of the night, she at her peddle sewing machine making my beautiful clothes.

Mother was very mischievous and such a tease!  She laughed freely and brought great joy to our family. 

She cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my life, I would have never met life’s trials with the trust and faith that I survive in my Lord Jesus.

I realize in my now ancient years, I had a beautiful, secure with no fear and tender childhood that lives in me today.  The greatest gift my Mother and Daddy gave me was their love for each other….they adored each other, and it permeated my brother and me.

After her 98th Birthday, she told me she was tired and was ready to go home.  A week before she breathed her last, she went to sleep…peaceably and quietly.  In the early morning hours of September 15, 2004 as I held her hand she slipped away.  I have never been as sure of anything in life as she slipped from my hand; Jesus took my Mother’s hand and led her into His Glory.  My Mother was truly a Proverbs 31 woman.

We honor our Mothers this Sunday, May 10, 2020.  They are God’s gift to us all.  Pray for your Mother.

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