I'm the Luckiest Mom in the World!

Today is Mother's Day - that day "once a year" that FTD and Hallmark cashes in on Big time, that we all are obliged to do something for our moms to let them know how special they are, something that often times, if we get right down to it, is a burden. Not that we don't love and appreciate them, but this is the day that "someone" somewhere, decided to proclaim was the day we proved it! And if we didn't, we were bad kids! And if our kids didn't do it, they didn't care about us. Hmmmm. I wonder if they had stock in any particular holiday commodity! Don't get me wrong, I think setting aside a day to honor our parents is a good thing.....it's just that sometimes, well....it just doesn't turn out the way it should. Maybe I have to work on my attitude about it.

Let me honor my mother by saying, I'm a lot like her in my practicality. She would have said, "I'd like to be honored all year, please... not with flowers and cards so much as with your love and your life and all the REAL stuff that counts...with some flowers and cards thrown in here and there." I honor her by thinking of her OFTEN and relishing in what an unbelievably AWESOME women she was!!! I honor her by loving and serving the God she loved and served and emulating her value system that was worth emulating, and that was pretty much all of it even though she was practical to a fault and I have had to work on not being that way. I only wish I could continually tell her how much she meant and her memory means to me! I only wish on a REGULAR basis I could call her up and tell her over and over how precious are my memories of her and how often I see her influence on my life. I wish I could hold her in my arms, kiss her cheeks, stroke her hair and kneel down and call her blessed because of her devotion and constant example of a Christ-like woman. The older I get, the more I realize how fortunate and blessed I am to have had her for a mom AND how BLESSED I am that God loved her enough to take her home early and give her "what eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard." Perhaps it's because she was such an awesome servant of the Lord, he chose to reward her early. My selfishness would have had it differently but my love for her has to let her go.
As far as Mother's Day is for me: These days, as Mother's Day arrives, I am overwhelmed with such undeserving HONOR I can hardly contain the tears! And I cry as I type this! You see, I have three of the most Unbelievable children who have HONORED me in the most incredible ways by just being who they are. They make me ask why I am so blessed for God to have given me them. If ever they ask themselves if their parents know how lucky they are to have them - well, wonder no more, they do! And they think about it daily! If that weren't enough, they honored me by picking spouses who were just as priceless as they.

So Lesli, Pat and Jana, Rusty, Melissa and Josh:

You honored me by all of the things you did and DID NOT do when growing up that gave me so much pride and thanksgiving and no grief.

You honored me by forgiving me for the mistakes I made in being less than the mother I should have been.

You have honored my by your sincere Walk with God and desire to be all he wants you to be.

You have honored me by your concern for others.

You have honored me by choosing a lifestyle that exemplifies the values we raised you with.

You have honored my by prayerfully choosing a mate that upholds those same values.

You have honored me by striving to have a strong marriage and home to raise my grandchildren.

You have honored me by calling and saying "Hi" and I love you. And being interested in my life and making me a part of your life

Well, I could go on and on. I just can't say enough times how much I love and appreciate all of you. Next to your father, you are all the pride of my life. Do know that as I get older and older, I am impressed more and more and am driven more and more to support you in my prayers and a day does not go by that I do not do that. I am ever more impressed to know that that is my current mission in life to not only do that but to know God better and better and leave a spiritual legacy which can be passed down as a maternal blessing for you and your children. I am totally confident it is because I am reaping that same blessing my mother left me!

During my devotions this morning, I came across this passage. I want to claim it for our family!

"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the Lord. My Spirit, who is on
you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth,
or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants
from this time on and forever," says the Lord.
Isaiah 59:21

"I'm the luckiest mom in the world!!"