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Moms, what an amazing group of people! Some young lady, just starting out in her own life, after getting out of school, gets married, gets pregnant and has a baby. All of a sudden, her life is not her own. She gives up "her life" for the sake of this little one or two or ... For the next couple decades or so, her life is wrapped up in turning little babies into responsible adults. Many of those things she dreamed about doing, once she was an adult, are now on hold. She gladly delays her other dreams for the little dreamboats she is now responsible for and for caring for their each and every need.
Sacrifice? Not at all! She would not even slightly consider what she is doing as a sacrifice. It is not a burden, it is one of the greatest blessings God could give to her. She has been touched by the hand of God and a miracle has grown in her belly. In the eyes of a mother, the baby, no matter what it looks like or may have wrong, is the prettiest thing to ever grace the face of the earth. The pain of childbirth seems to be forgotten as soon as she holds the baby for that first time. Would she do it all over again? Evidently so, she has another baby soon.
A mother is a picture of the love of God to a great degree. John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his (or her) life for his (or her) friends." I add, Greater love has no woman than this, that she lay aside her life and devote herself wholeheartedly to the development of her children, to nurture and raise them to love and serve the Lord. This is a visible example of serving, of giving, of putting others first, of unending love.
My Mother is an unbelievable example of this kind of love. She gave and gave and gave. She loved and loved and loved. She has always been there for each of her five children. To the best of her ability, she made sure that our lives were the best they could possibly be. She did not do this by smothering us, but by guiding us and little-by-little, giving us our wings to try out the world - or at least the neighborhood at first.
I look back to my childhood and appreciate that I was allowed to be a "boy". I did not get in trouble for getting dirty or for breaking something on accident. I was given the freedom to do things that had the potential for me to get hurt. In that freedom, I grew in confidence, experience and in ability. The more I tried, the more I was allowed to try. The further I ventured into the woods without getting lost, the further I was allowed to venture.
I appreciate living in a nice home, always having the food for meals, always having decent clothes, etc. But much more, I appreciate my Mom and Dad and my brother and three sisters. I appreciate the family that my Mom held together and the atmosphere that she established for our home. There was no doubt in our minds that she would be there when we got home from school. She was not afraid to give us chores, to give us spankings, to give us vegetables... She did what was good for us, not just what we thought would be good for us. Her love and discipline helped to shape us into the adults we each have become. We all love God, we all love family and we all love the families we each have of our own. I would do anything for any member of my family and I know that my brother and sisters would do likewise. Why am I so sure? Because we grew up seeing the daily example of how it was supposed to be done.
Mom, thanks - thanks for all of it. Thanks for not putting up with my bad attitudes but having the love to insist on a change in me, thanks for taking care of me whenever I was sick, thanks for doing the meals and dishes and laundry and cleaning. Thanks for doing the gross things - the diapers (they were not disposable but were cloth that were wrung out by hand), cleaning up the vomit and washing sheets in the middle of the night, the enemas, dealing with wet beds with understanding, the bandaids on skinned knees and elbows, removing splinters, etc.
Mom, thanks for it all; each and every meal, each and every clean pair of socks, each and every talking to and spanking. Thanks for making me learn how to vacuum, dust, do the sinks and toilets, and the dishes. But also, thanks for letting me be a regular boy with a BB gun, bow and arrows, knife, hatchet, .22 rifle, go-cart, motorcycle, etc. Thanks for the trips to the doctor to get things taken care of, such as cinders out of ears, etc. Thanks for not panicking when I would hitch-hike home from Snowflake or be out until the middle of the night spot-lighting rabbits (maybe you did not know that is what I was doing) but thanks for trusting me to be responsible enough to stay out of big trouble.
And, I have a special thanks that no other child that I know of can offer, thanks for not flushing! I mean it, THANKS!
Mom; from Ron, Sharon, Carolyn, Paula and I; with all of the love in our hearts, thank you!
Sacrifice? Not at all! She would not even slightly consider what she is doing as a sacrifice. It is not a burden, it is one of the greatest blessings God could give to her. She has been touched by the hand of God and a miracle has grown in her belly. In the eyes of a mother, the baby, no matter what it looks like or may have wrong, is the prettiest thing to ever grace the face of the earth. The pain of childbirth seems to be forgotten as soon as she holds the baby for that first time. Would she do it all over again? Evidently so, she has another baby soon.
A mother is a picture of the love of God to a great degree. John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his (or her) life for his (or her) friends." I add, Greater love has no woman than this, that she lay aside her life and devote herself wholeheartedly to the development of her children, to nurture and raise them to love and serve the Lord. This is a visible example of serving, of giving, of putting others first, of unending love.
My Mother is an unbelievable example of this kind of love. She gave and gave and gave. She loved and loved and loved. She has always been there for each of her five children. To the best of her ability, she made sure that our lives were the best they could possibly be. She did not do this by smothering us, but by guiding us and little-by-little, giving us our wings to try out the world - or at least the neighborhood at first.
I look back to my childhood and appreciate that I was allowed to be a "boy". I did not get in trouble for getting dirty or for breaking something on accident. I was given the freedom to do things that had the potential for me to get hurt. In that freedom, I grew in confidence, experience and in ability. The more I tried, the more I was allowed to try. The further I ventured into the woods without getting lost, the further I was allowed to venture.
I appreciate living in a nice home, always having the food for meals, always having decent clothes, etc. But much more, I appreciate my Mom and Dad and my brother and three sisters. I appreciate the family that my Mom held together and the atmosphere that she established for our home. There was no doubt in our minds that she would be there when we got home from school. She was not afraid to give us chores, to give us spankings, to give us vegetables... She did what was good for us, not just what we thought would be good for us. Her love and discipline helped to shape us into the adults we each have become. We all love God, we all love family and we all love the families we each have of our own. I would do anything for any member of my family and I know that my brother and sisters would do likewise. Why am I so sure? Because we grew up seeing the daily example of how it was supposed to be done.
Mom, thanks - thanks for all of it. Thanks for not putting up with my bad attitudes but having the love to insist on a change in me, thanks for taking care of me whenever I was sick, thanks for doing the meals and dishes and laundry and cleaning. Thanks for doing the gross things - the diapers (they were not disposable but were cloth that were wrung out by hand), cleaning up the vomit and washing sheets in the middle of the night, the enemas, dealing with wet beds with understanding, the bandaids on skinned knees and elbows, removing splinters, etc.
Mom, thanks for it all; each and every meal, each and every clean pair of socks, each and every talking to and spanking. Thanks for making me learn how to vacuum, dust, do the sinks and toilets, and the dishes. But also, thanks for letting me be a regular boy with a BB gun, bow and arrows, knife, hatchet, .22 rifle, go-cart, motorcycle, etc. Thanks for the trips to the doctor to get things taken care of, such as cinders out of ears, etc. Thanks for not panicking when I would hitch-hike home from Snowflake or be out until the middle of the night spot-lighting rabbits (maybe you did not know that is what I was doing) but thanks for trusting me to be responsible enough to stay out of big trouble.
And, I have a special thanks that no other child that I know of can offer, thanks for not flushing! I mean it, THANKS!
Mom; from Ron, Sharon, Carolyn, Paula and I; with all of the love in our hearts, thank you!
Ditto, except the flushing part!
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