Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2009....the last Mother's Day I would get to share with my mother.  It was a great day.  I had written my mother a song and was able to sing it at church that Sunday with her and my aunt in the audience.  It was a tear jerker and she was bawling, but honestly, I didn't write it for the reaction, I wrote it simply because she was a great mom and I wanted her to know that through the years I had begun to understand some of what she had experienced.  The sacrifices she had made and the love that she felt for me.  Little did I know that just a couple of weeks later she would be diagnosed with cancer and would be leaving this earth a short 3 months later.

For many people Mother's day is a day to bring your mom flowers, buy her a gift or just send her a card.  Let me challenge you to take it a step further.  The cards, flowers and gifts are nice, but what a mother really wants is honor.  Look her in the eyes and tell her that you appreciate her.  Not just that you love her, but that you recognize the sacrifices she made for you.  Remember that she was once a young girl that had plans and goals.  Maybe those plans and goals changed when she found out she was pregnant.  She may have been overjoyed, she may have been scared to death, but one thing is for sure...you are alive because she chose YOU!  She chose to live those 9 months carrying you and nurturing you and then giving you life.  Honor her for that choice!

Now maybe you are thinking, that is not me.  My mother wasn't a part of my life.  She abandoned me or gave me up for adoption.  No matter what circumstances surround your life, remember one thing.  You are still here because your mother (whether you know her or not) gave you life.  She carried you and gave birth to you.  That is reason enough to quietly say to yourself, if you cannot say it to her, "thank you". 

I don't mean to over-simplify what you might have experienced in your life or with your mom.  I just know that the Bible says to "Honor your father and mother and your days will be long."  I have found this to be very hard in my life.  You see, I started this blog as if my relationship with my mother was great my whole life.  That is not exactly the way it was. 

I was daddy's little girl and mom was just the other woman that lived in our house.  Don't get me wrong, I loved mom, but we just didn't see to eye to eye on too many things.  I can't remember too many times we had actual conversations throughout my high school years.  But after my daddy passed away in 1991 there was a turning  point in our relationship.  The change was slow and I wont' get into all the details that surround this time, but one thing is for sure....I began to see that she was on my side and she did care.  For whatever reason that I didn't believe this before, I was believing it now. 

As the years went by we built a great new relationship.  In 2002 she sold the house I grew up in and moved to Lubbock, TX to be closer to her mother and sisters, but the phone became our friend.  We talked often and I tried to drive up there to visit as often as I could.  But to be together on an actual Mother's Day was always difficult.  So when mom told me she and my aunt were coming down for a visit and would be here for Mother's day that May in 2009 I was so excited.  I immediately started forming a song in my mind and asked my pastor if I could sing it at church on that Sunday.  Mom loved it.  The picture below is the last Mother's day we spent together.

Time isn't the actual healer of wounds, but the passing of time can improve the outlook of things.

No I don't know what it's like to grow up without a mom.  I do feel sad for those who did grow up that way....please know that this blog is in no way to make you feel any worse about Mother's Day.  I hope that throughout your life's pathways you have come across some ladies that have mentored you and provided a mother's love and care.

For those of you who still have your mother here on earth with you.  Take time to honor her and tell her how much you love and appreciate her.

For those of us who are mother's and know the sacrifices that have been made, the tears that have been shed and the hours of prayers that have been poured out for our children I hope we all have the best and most blessed Mother's day of 2011!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!