Mother's Day

Try as I might to make it otherwise,

this weekend always delivered a mixed bag of emotions.

My mother died on May 7, 1979.

I wish like anything it hadn't been Mother's day week.

For a few years, I'd tear up when I walked past
the displays of Mother's Day cards.

I told myself to get a grip, to accept what is.

But it took many years for me to see God's gentle hand

in the loss of my mother.

Though I sought the friendship, advice
and encouragement of other women,

I also learned to be a strong and resourceful mother on my own.
I learned to appreciate my children and focus on them more than my loss.

Recognizing my shortcomings, I also learned
that I needed God more than a mother.

I am learning to be an encouragement to younger women.

Titus 2:4-5 says:
... train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind,
and to be subject to their husbands ...

Mom was selfless and humorous, enormously generous with her love.
I know she'd tell me to quit whining about her not being here,
and get busy loving others.
   Mothers shape their children, but also the parents they might become.
It's a two-for-one deal and it's powerful to ponder.

Whether or not you are a mother, and whether or not your mother is in your life now, think on the valuable lessons she taught 
and seek to share them with others.
 That, I think most mothers would say,
is the best way to honor them.