My Mom

This weekend my Mom is on an Emmaus walk.  She is a methodist and this retreat is a time of personal renewal and leadership training for her.  It is quite an honor to be chosen to go on this journey.  She was filled with excitement when she left.  What she didn't know is that there were many surprises waiting for her when she got there.  I can't wait to hear about her experience!!  One of the surprises is that she will get letters from each of the members of her family and her friends.  I thought it would be neat to post my letter here.  For she is worthy of public honor.  May you be blessed as you read about the woman I am privileged to call Mom.

Dear Mom,

  There is so much I want to say!  First, I am praying for you this weekend!  I hope you have had a wonderful weekend drawing closer to our Savior.  I hope you are more in love with him now than you were before.  And I pray he draws you closer still day by day.  Can't wait to hear how your experience was:)  As you receive these letters, I pray that you are blessed beyond words.  You have impacted so many lives.  Now it is time to receive God's pleasure for you Mom.

  Motherhood is such a high calling.  It is worthy of much respect.  I am so grateful that you took the task of mothering to heart.  Lauren, Abbie, and I had no idea what a blessing we had in you!  And I am still learning that.  Being a mom myself now sheds new light.  I deeply respect you Mom and want to thank you for embracing the calling of raising us girls.

Thank you for being there for me.  I wasn't the easiest child to live with!  Thank you for choosing to stay home with us, instead of working outside the home.  Thank you for balancing working for Dad and caring for us girls so well.  I don't know how you did it, except by God's grace.  Thank you for taking us to the pool, on vacations, and being so active in our sports.  Even swimming during high school, I know that was torture (the meets were really long)!  You did it because you loved me.  Thank you for caring for me with all my migraines, which you still do.  Thank you for taking me to all the Dr appts I required.  And thank you for caring for my girls when I am sick now.  Thank you for letting me go to college and supporting me as I became a nurse.  And thank you for your blessing as Jeremy and I got married.

Thank you for your humility.  You have supported me in whatever decisions I have made and allowed me to follow what I feel God has placed on my heart.  I don't know if you realize how much that means.  I know it must have been hard when we chose a different church or when you hear Gracie and piper being disciplined.  Yet you never make me feel like you don't approve.

Thank you for loving Dad so much.  You have been a great example of a wife who respects her husband and cares well for him.  The stable environment we grew up in is a total gift to your children.

Thank you for the many sacrifices you made, for going without so your girls didn't have to.  I'll never forget our birthday trips to the Limited Too.  You would give us an amount to spend and the always break it.  Why, because you delighted in blessing your children.  And now you bless your grandchildren as well.  Thank you for being so selfless and giving.

Thank you for singing to your girls and to Gracie and Piper.  I still remember those songs and to hear my girls singing them brings joy to my soul.

Thank you for teaching me what it means to serve others.  Wow!  What an example you are.  You take meals, babysit, make phone calls, help your mom and meemaw, volunteer at church, and help many financially.

Thank you for being so giving of your time and resources.  Thank you for hanging out with the girls and I by the pool even though you have a pile of work waiting for you on your desk inside.  Thank you for blessing us so often by letting us use the beach condo.  We have great memories there.

I think one of the greatest things you have taught me is to look at what's really important.  Mainly, house cleaning is not the most important thing in the world.  When I am tempted to put cleaning over time with the girls, I hear you asking me what's more important.

Proverbs 31:27-31 says "She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also. and he praises her.  Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.  Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates."

Mom, most importantly, thank you for pursuing God.  I can't think of anything that blesses Dad or your girls more than your pursuit of the One who matters most.  We were created for one reason, and that is to glorify God.  Thank you for glorifying him in the way you care for me and my sisters.  On judgement day when your name is called- Mom I will be there to cheer you on as you stand before our Lord.  For I can surely testify that you have been a faithful wife, Mom, and Nanny.

                               Mom, I rise up and call you blessed,

                                             Love,

                                                Lindsay