My "Thanks, Mom!" List

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I hope you're planning to celebrate the mother's in your life! I've already received a dozen beautiful roses from "my three men" and feel so loved and appreciated! We'll celebrate tomorrow by having hubby's folks come over for lunch after church. I'm blessed to have a wonderful Mother-in-law and we'll want to honor her.

My dear, sweet Mom will be in my thoughts. She is in the last stages of Alzheimer's so it's not possible to call her and wish her a happy day. But God hears my prayers for her and I trust He'll wrap my love around her with His arms.

Mother's Day is a good time to stop and think about all the things mom's do for their children. I should know. I'm "Mom" to the two greatest sons a mother could have. Not every day of this journey called "Motherhood" has been easy, but it's been worth it. The lessons I've learned from my children are priceless. I hope they would say the same about the things they've learned from me.

So here is my "Thanks, Mom" list of just a few of the many, many things I learned from my mother, Ann. I'm so very, very thankful God gave me to her!

1. God is love. He loves unconditionally. My mother's unconditional love revealed God to me. Even when I messed up, she still loved me.
2. Jesus is real. He died for my sins so I can have eternal life with Him. Teaching ones children about Jesus is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing a mother will ever do! I am ever so grateful my Mom loved Jesus and taught me about Him. She and I will rejoice for all eternity together!
3. God's Word is truth. My parents gave me my first Bible in 1971. I still have it on my bookshelf with all my other Bibles. I often saw my mother reading her Bible. I also saw my Grandma reading hers. I am blessed with a legacy of Truth holders.
4. A church family. My parents made sure our family was in church every time the doors were open! Their example showed me what it meant to serve the Lord in His house.
5. A home to cherish. Mom still lives in the house she and Dad began building in the 1950s. I love that house, the yard, the trees, the memories.
6. A love of books. Mom and Dad both loved reading. I still remember Mom reading Little Women to my sister and me when were well past the age of reading ourselves. I have many of the books she gave me as a child.
7. A love for the outdoors. Our family vacations were to places like Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, the beach and the mountains. Living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we had unlimited access to the glorious Rocky Mountains and would often drive up to see the aspens when they turned gold or take a picnic lunch to the Pecos Wilderness. Mom would always bring home rocks, branches, flowers or leaves from our adventures.
8. A love of green and growing things. Mom loved growing things. She always had a garden, flowers, fruit trees and indoor plants. While I did not inherit her green thumbs, I do enjoy tinkering in the yard in the spring. Alas, summers in Texas are not like summers in Santa Fe so my outdoor fun ends once the heat arrives.
9. Mom's have to work hard. Mom was a school teacher for 25 years and raised five kids. After I left for college, my Grandma moved in and Mom took care of her mom for the next ten years. My mom worked hard for her loved ones!
10. Mom's aren't perfect. Sometimes mom's loose their temper. Sometimes they do and say things they regret. But if you take those "bad" days and compare them to all the "good" days....there is NO comparison! The good far outweigh the bad. And keep in mind, there are no perfect kids either. Mom's do their best, learn from their mistakes, and go forward. That's called Life.

Thank you, God, for giving me a wonderful, loving, giving, caring, imperfect Mother. She is a blessing to me! 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!!!

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This week's Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, Kenya, Canada, China, Ukraine