Mother's Day for Mom

My grandmother will tell you that my mother, aunt, and uncle were all raised Baptist. My mother (and probably aunt and uncle) will admit that she was raised being sent to the baptist church with her brother and sister, and every once in a while did actually make it to church. When my mom and dad began to date seriously, she wanted to figure out what that preacher at the Church of Christ my dad went to was talking about. So she dug into the Bible herself to figure it out. That is a typical response of my mom. She won't wait to hear what others have to say about something, and she doesn't want to rely on word of mouth. She does her own research about everything, especially her faith.

My mom has always been an academic, graduating from college in 3 years, then getting a Master's in Mathematics. (I don't know where I got my under-achiever gene, but no thanks on any of that). She was a "career woman" before there were just too many of those. She went to work full time in the early '70's. While there were times growing up I wished her to be a "normal mother" as I referred to full-time moms, her job allowed her to touch the lives of hundreds of college students.

Mom is now retired, when one should spend her days in the pursuit of her choice. So she takes my 95-year-old grandmother to the beauty parlor and Wal-Mart every week, as well as various Dr.'s appointments and lunch dates, she cares for a great-aunt who is in her late '80's, helps my grandfather (dad's dad) and his new wife, and loves the moments she gets to spend with each of my brother's boys, 3,5, and 7 years old. That each of her grandchildren KNOW her is her primary goal as a grandmother, and she sees to it that those that live in her town are well taken care of, and she makes a point to get 500 miles west of her town at least every other month, if not more often. She revels in her role as Nonna, while understanding the responsibility of knowing those little eyes are watching every move and little ears are soaking up every word.

I suppose it's typical to become a mother and THEN realize precisely how wise your own mother is. Most of the things that have made me realize that haven't come from my own children, but watching other people I know make mistakes and thinking, "Didn't your mother tell you not to do that?"

For instance:
1) Having a baby won't fix a bad marriage, and will put a strain on a good one. From the things I've said, obviously Mom wanted to be a grandma, but not at the expense of a little soul unsure of his/her place in this world. Now I know several little people spending weekends at different spots because their mom and/or dad thought a baby would fix their mess of a marriage. (I know there are all sorts of situations that make said situation preferable or necessary, but I still think it was darn good advice from my mother).

2) Don't flush tampons! My apologies to any gentelmen readers, but as I listen to tales of embarassing and expensive plumber's visits, I think, "Didn't your mother tell you never to do that?" Again, darn good advice!

3) Never, never, NEVER wake a sleeping baby. Enough said.

The most important thing I've learned from my mom wasn't from anything she said, but from her actions:

"Hide God's word in your heart."

My mother has memorized literally hundreds of isolated scriptures, and several other portions of scripture. I appreciate the way she believes we can never become complacent in our walk with the Lord. I am so thankful for her example of being a life-long student of scripture, allowing God to continually speak to her and transform her heart.

Happy Mother's Day to all!