Meet My Mom

I recently spent some time with my cousin, Gayl, in Dallas, Texas, who was dying of cancer.  She is just a few years older than myself.   During my visit with her, I was able to witness her only daughter as she loved and cared for her dying mother.  That was a blessing to me in more ways than I have time to recount in this brief article.  To say the least…it was precious and priceless!   Thank you Kristin.

Gayl and Kristin

How seldom we take the time to bless and thank our mothers on this side of eternity.  Regardless of what kind of mother you think you might have had, God always blesses those who honor their father and their mother.
It will go well with you!

Let me tell you about my mother…

Audrey Stewart, born and raised on a farm, never had a college education but dedicated her life to being a helpmeet to my father, was the epitome of caring, grace, graciousness and Biblical womanhood.  My dear mother is about to celebrate her 79^th birthday and she is still the same picture of these Proverbs 31 qualities!  How blessed I am to still have her in my life.  I do not take that for granted.  Yet, to have her here and to see her still reaching out that caring, gracious hand of mercy to others, is beyond a blessing!  

I don't ever remember hearing my mother complain about her lot in life.  I don't ever remember hearing her berate my father because she didn't have something she thought she needed.  My mother was a "make something out of nothing" kind of mom.  I remember how she would take her own dresses and turn them in to fashions for myself, my siblings and even for her own grandchildren.  It was never a matter of "what could be done" but "how she would go about getting it done".   To this day, my mom busies herself generating a better idea for a recipe, someone's health need or her own personal needs.  She can smell a bargain ten miles away!

Health crises in the life of my mother and father, caused them years ago, to rethink the way they live their lives and care for the health of their bodies.  My mother has been a consistent example of disciplined living.  So often, she has been that "Holy Spirit" who convicts us of the better way to care for our temple.  I'm blessed when I listen to her wise counsel and when I haven't, I find myself later, scrambling to get to the place she had previously and wisely suggested.  It grieves her heart when she offers caring counsel to young women and their mothers, about a healthier way to raise their families and it is refused for lack of understanding. My mother has learned from many health counselors herself and that is what makes what she has to say now, so valuable.  There is truth in the adage, "you must be teachable to teach others".

Mother is a woman of many talents and I could go on and on about them.  I don't remember my mother's hands ever being idle. But what I am most grateful for…. is her heart for God.

Quiet as she may seem most of the time, my mother is full of discernment and much discretion.  She has the spiritual condition of most people pegged very quickly.  Ecclesiastes 1:13  "And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven:"
Hebrews 5:12  "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Thank you Mother, for the wonderful, Godly legacy you are leaving behind.   While I have you with me…I will love and honor you while I can. It's my prayer that my own daughter will follow in the footsteps you have so carefully placed in front of both of us.   I love you Mother!

Sheryl