Honoring My Mother

Today, I honor my mother. (Tomorrow is Mother's Day, 2009, in the U.S.) She instilled in me a lot of important life principles. As a matter of fact, I have written about some of them. You can read these posts on my other blog, Finding the Faith Way; click here and type "things mama taught me" in the search box in the upper left part of the page.

Did my mother make any mistakes in my upbringing? Yes, of course. Have I made mistakes? Oh, indeed! Since babies don't come shrink-wrapped with full instructions and warranties, we are certain to make a few "bad calls."

I wonder if my mother had the same misgivings as I have, now that my child is an adult. Was I a good mother? Was I good enough? When I expressed these nagging doubts to my wise pastor, he told me, "A conscientious, God-fearing parent cannot make enough mistakes to ruin their child."

Mama was conscientious, without a doubt. And she was certainly God-fearing. I honor her for her determination and her steadfast faith. God has smoothed over any shortcomings she may have had as a parent, and has greatly enriched my life with her example. I am especially grateful for what she taught me to love.

She loved family. She prayed for her children, wept for them when she felt they'd erred, wrote letters when they were far from home. She relished the family gatherings where she would sit quietly, just listening, as we all recalled some of our escapades and exploits of the past. She encouraged our education, and was grateful for our achievements. She crocheted an afghan for each one of the children and baked special Christmas cookies with the grandkids.

She loved words. She read them printed on the pages of books and magazines. She read them aloud to the children and to her husband, because she enjoyed the sound of spoken words. She put words on paper, pounding out on an old manual typewriter "grandpa's story," an oral history she captured from our revered ancestor. In her eighties, she developed her own program of reading, delving into history and historical novels, science, biography, other subjects—and always the Bible.

She loved music. She wound up the old Victrola at the top of the stairs in our farm home and tidied the rooms while the music ran down, "Brighten the corner—where—yo-ou—a-a-a-re." She played hymns on the old upright piano in the living room, setting for herself the goal of learning all the hymns, even the ones we never sang. She established the Easter season tradition of hearing Handel's Messiah performed by the famed Bethany Oratorio Society (Lindsborg, KS), a tradition some of us continue still.

She loved God. More than anything else, this has impacted my life. She was faithful in worship, public and private. She trusted God in crisis and in small, practical matters. She expressed gratitude for the daily blessings which she acknowledged were gifts from Him.

Thanks, Mom!

Marjorie