It’s Mother’s Day again. It is a time of fond memories for those whose mom is in heaven and I am no exception. But I want to begin with a little humor.
A teacher gave her students an assignment to have one of their parents tell them a story with a moral at the end. Johnny’s parents were busy so he decided to come up with his own story. The next day each student was called on to share their story. Finally, she said, “Johnny, do you have a story?” “Yes Ma’am. My dad told me a story about my mom. He said that she was a fighter pilot in Desert Storm. Her plane was hit and she had to bail out over enemy territory. All she had was a bottle of liquor, her service pistol and a survival knife. She drank the liquor on the way down for fear the bottle would break. She landed near twenty Iraqi soldiers. She shot fifteen until she ran out of bullets; then stabbed four of them until the blade broke on her knife; then she killed the last one with her bare hands.” “My goodness” exclaimed the teacher, “What did your father say was the moral of that horrible story?” “Don’t mess with mom when she’s been drinking.”
My mom was the prime example of “tender loving care”. She nursed me through mumps, measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, pneumonia and histoplasmosis; before dying of leukemia when I was only 13. For a long time I thought she sacrificed her own health to save me. I think she would be proud of the Christian man I have become and that I have survived all of these years because of her love and care at the beginning.
My step-mother took on the thankless task of caring for a husband and his teenage son after raising two grown children of her own and losing her husband. Then, my wife cared for me with love for over 50 years. I can imagine those three wonderful Christian women in heaven comparing notes about me.
I want to wish a wonderful Mother’s Day to each woman reading this who made the “choice” to become a mother; whether through childbirth, adoption, fostering or as a step-mom. You deserve admiration every day of the year. God bless you!