For Mother's Day

I love my Mom. There are so many great things about her, but I'd like to highlight a few in honor of her on Mother's Day.

1. My mom is a teacher by profession. She taught full time for only one year before she was married, but she has spent her whole life since then working with kids. She is a true teacher in the sense that there has never been a time that she hasn't been teaching in some capacity, whether it be Sunday School, outreaches, substitute teaching at the Christian school, tutoring for English as a second language students or helping out with her homeschooled grandchildren.
My mother often complains to me that she feels she doesn't have any creativity when it comes to home decorating. Her perceived lack of ability in that arena is more than compensated by her creativity with children. She is always coming up with fun activities, games and crafts. If you need a cardboard elephant complete with cloth trunk, cloth patch matching game, water-color painting books, Easter egg object lesson, counting toys or really any other supply you can think of you need look no farther than her stash. There is something for everyone in there.

2. My mom has a servant's heart. I loved having my mom visit when we still lived in Canada for a number of reasons, but one great perk was that when she came my house was immaculate. She effortlessly put meals on the table, kept the dirty dishes out of the sink and the floors clean all while humming a merry little tune. How does she do that?

My mom has always had a soft spot in her heart for the elderly and disabled. While growing up I accompanied her on many visits to friends living in nursing homes or who were shut-ins. We would often bring a treat for them to eat or sing hymns and pray for them.

In 2002 my father's health began to decline and my mother became his full time care giver for 5 years until he passed away. What a precious example she was to me as she sacrificed her freedom to care for him. What a wonderful gift for my dad to have her by his side.


3. My mom has an eternal perspective. She is fearless when it comes to telling others about Jesus and what He did for them on the cross. Her example has taught me a lot about what a true love for others looks like- it manifests itself in a concern for a person's well-being in body and soul. My mom prays a lot. By God's grace the spiritual discipline of prayer has been honed in her life so that the first place she turns is to the Lord. I'm sure it hasn't always been that way, but she's been cultivating that field for a long time. I remember seeing her kneeling by her bed in prayer many times when I was young, and then as her knees starting hurting she moved her daily prayer times to a chair in the living room. It reminds me of that story about Susanna Wesley who with some nineteen children still had daily prayer times in the privacy of her apron thrown up over her head. My mom didn't have to deal with nineteen kids, but her youngest was quite the rambuntious loud-mouth! I love you, Mom! I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day and realize that there is someone all the way across the world who appreciates you very, very much.

Love, Valerie