For Mother’s Day, we decided to share three testimonies of thankfulness for our Moms. These are expressions of gratitude, but they’re also more than that. These are testimonies of how God has shown His grace in the lives of three godly women. In a day when the family has been nearly completely undermined, testimonies like these should be heard. Would you consider sharing a testimony to your own mother in the comments below?
Mom Never Stops Being a Mom (Baker)
An enduring memory of my mother came from a time of deep, personal disappointment. I’ll withhold the scenario — it’s so specific that hinting at all would give it away. Needless to say, I was down. At the time of the disappointment, I was a college grad, had been out of the house a few years, and was moving into full-blown adult stuff. Even so, my mom did her best to comfort me through that time. The lesson I learned was this: moms never stop being moms. Moms continually nurture, ceaselessly worry (my mom still wants me to check-in when I’m on a long road trip), and endlessly love. Even when their kids grow up and leave the nest, or, perhaps, especially when their children grow up and leave the nest, moms are still moms.
Mom: Living Ministry (Arnold)
I come from a family of insomniacs. Okay, so it’s not really insomnia, but since we work at all hours of the day and night, it might as well be. Even now I can call home after midnight and it’s not a problem. Somebody is always awake.
That was also true growing up. It never occurred to me at the time that my three brothers and I might be part of the reason that my Mom found the middle of the night so productive. I just remember assuming that she apparently didn’t need to sleep like the rest of us.
But on one or two occasions I woke up in the middle of the night and figured out how she got her sleep. One scene is frozen in my memory. It was some abominable hour and my Mom was slumped over at the kitchen table, surrounded by hours of her work.
These were not hobbies for herself. My Mom’s typical late night work would be a decoration or a handout for something happening at church. My guess for that late night would be table centerpieces for our older folks group. She would work on a church project until she fell asleep literally in the middle of it all.
I’m thankful for parents and a family that set an expectation for ministry. There is no better task or preoccupation than work done for the cause of Christ. My Mom lived it at every hour of the day and night.
What My Mom Gave to God
A couple days ago, I posted a foolish Facebook status. It said, “Instead of letting every company out there tell you what your mom wants for mother’s day, why not ask her?” My mistake? I hadn’t even bothered to ask my Mom what she wanted. Much to the delight of my friends who read the comments, my mom replied “Sooo…when are you going to ask? Love, Mom.” OK, Mom, you got me on that one.
But it got me thinking. What would my mom really want? I think many moms would want more time with their children, a deeper relationship with them, perhaps more affirmation that the life she poured into them was well-spent. These are great things to want, and great moms deserve them. But I know that’s not what my mom wants most of all. Her deepest desire has been to see her children serve the Lord Jesus, even if that means being apart from them. You see, my mother said goodbye to all five of her children, one at a time, as we left for the U. S. while she and my father stayed on the mission field.
What impresses me most about my mother is not what she gave me–although she gave me more than I’ll know. It’s what she gave to God: her own children.
