Mother's Day, 2024

A few weeks ago at church, someone asked a group of us, "Who would you say was the biggest influence on your life?" Different people told different stories, but the first person, after Jesus Christ, that came to my mind was my mother. I don't think that's any sort of exaggeration.

Starting from the beginning -- and I mean the actual beginning -- my mother made me what I am. She birthed me. She trained me. She educated me. She exhorted and encouraged me. She guided me. Sure, there were a lot of people who did much of that, but none so intensely nor so consistently as she did. Our culture dislikes the "stay-at-home-mom" concept, but she liked it and did it well. She was there when we left for school and there when we came home. My parents made sure we were in church every Sunday (even if we were on vacation) ... and a good church at that. When the one we were in seemed to no longer meet the needs of us kids, they changed to one that did. Even moved to another city to be closer to it. My mother never said, "Wait 'til your father gets home." She was my primary discipline. And she did it on biblical principles to bring us up with biblical perspectives. She encouraged me to talk to her and I did ... about all sorts of things. I never felt like I wasn't allowed. And she counseled me in small and large issues. She still does. She taught us the importance of family, to do our work, to keep our space clean, to obey authority, to read the Bible ... a list of everything we would need to be responsible, adult followers of Christ.

Mom never came across as perfect. She spent a year becoming a more grateful person because she understood we were to give thanks in everything and she was not. So she set aside daily prayer time for giving thanks and communicated to people all around her things for which she was grateful. To this day, if you ask her, "How are you?" she'll answer, "Grateful" and mean it. She taught me godliness and humility, faith and courage, perseverance and repentance, and always ... always a deep and abiding love for God and His Word. So I say, "Thanks, Mom. Thanks for the work you've done. Thanks for being a useful tool in the hands of a loving Savior. Thanks for the example you've laid and the love you've given." Happy Mother's Day, Mom.