Missing Mom on Mother’s Day

I’m sharing some of this in the message at church this morning, and I thought I I’d share it here also.  Happy Mother’s Day!

I’d like to share just a little about my mom, if you’d allow me to. I do want to honor her at least a little today. I grew up in a home where I felt loved, safe and cared for with two wonderful parents…and a mom who was an example of a godly mother.

She stayed home with us when my three brothers and I were little. She made our home life very peaceful. I have many warm memories of her. We always had wonderful meals each breakfast, lunch and dinner. My friends in high school would call our home, “Margaret’s Kitchen,” and thought my mom should open up her own restaurant. No one could compare with her cooking or her baking. And for as long as I can remember, Mom always had a plate of 1-2 sunny-side up eggs, 2 pieces of perfectly cooked bacon, and 2 pieces of toast ready for me on the kitchen table before I would leave for school each morning. I just thought everyone started their day that way.

Mom would take us four kids to church, every Saturday night or Sunday. Many times we put up a fight in going. But she always stood her ground to make sure church and God became a part of our lives.

She instilled in me a belief in myself and a confidence that has helped me throughout my life. She cried with me, and celebrated with me. She encouraged me to be the best person I could be. She was never too busy for me. She was my best friend. And when I became a mom myself, she was there for me helping me adjust to my new role in life. She was such a great example to follow…none better.

She didn’t have an easy life though. Her mom died when she was 12. Her father was an alcoholic, and would leave on drinking binges for days, without warning, leaving her and her brother, who was just two years older than her, to do the farm chores and take care of each other. All at 12 years old! She could have easily become bitter and rebellious, but God had different plans for her. She graduated from high school with honors at the age of 16, was the star of the high school basketball team, went on to business college, landed a promising job in Cedar Rapids and married my father when she was 19. They were married for 47 years before dad passed away in 1999.

God took her home three years ago this past December. Words can’t adequately describe how very much I miss her…her love, her advice, her caring, her compassion, her example, her presence in my life. I can’t wait be reunited with her again in our Heavenly Home! Some who knew my mom say today how much I look like her…I take that as the most beautiful comment I could ever receive. She left a legacy for our family which has extended to her grandchildren and her great-grandchild. God honored her faithfulness throughout those trying years. God used her to bless so many while on this earth.

I grew up thinking everyone had a mom like I had. But I now know from experience that isn’t the case. She was such a gift to me, to my husband and to our children.  Selfless love is what she showed me every day of my life, up until the very end of hers.  She deserves to enjoy her eternity with our Lord!

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers everywhere!  (And if you’re feeling sad today for whatever reason, I’m with you.)