My Mother

Sometimes I feel like it is so easy to focus on life and what is going on that we forget to think about what it is we have to be thankful for. With yesterday, being Mother's Day, I thought this week it would be great to take a couple days and share with you, my thankfulness for a couple mothers in my life.

I am very thankful for my mom and all that she has done for me over the years.  For most of my childhood she put her life on hold and gave up quite a bit so that she could stay home with us kids.   Until I became a parent I never really understood or appreciated all that she had done.  She spent a lot of time playing with us, loving us, and making sure all our needs were taken care of.  Not only that, but she taught us so many things that I can see reflected in my life today.

One of the biggest things my mom taught me was how to love people.  She gave, not only to us kids, but to others as well.  She would pour out time and money into bettering the lives of others without ever really getting the recognition she deserved.  She has a heart for people and taught us to love people regardless of what they have done.  She is truly and example of loving people unconditionally just as Christ showed us.

I have been playing Frisbee with my son recently and it reminds me of another reason I am thankful for her.  The time I spend playing with him is just like when she used to play Frisbee with me. It's a great experience to be able to share in the same thing with my son. To see him light up when he knows he can now through a Frisbee well, is a joy I get because she spent the time with me.

I am thankful that as we began to grow older, and I made my fair share of mistakes and caused heart ache, she continued to show me love.  I am not proud of what I did and thinking about it often hurts me.  I am so blessed that despite my decisions, my mom showed me the love that reflects that of what Christ has shown the church.  It's a lesson I needed then and will need to remember as my kids grow up as I am sure they will cause me both pain and heartache as well. 

Now that I have kids, I am even more thankful for her as she has always been there for them as well.  Her willingness to spend time with them, watch them, play with them, and love on them is truly a blessing.  I know not all kids get this kind of time spent with their grandparents and I am glad mine do.  I know it will shape the lives of my kids forever and they will know there are people out there other than mom and dad that love them regardless of the decisions they make.  

Really there are so many more things I have to be thankful for when it comes to my mom.  She has always been a terrific mom and has worked really hard at raising us. Like I said at the beginning, sometimes we forget to think about all that we really have to be thankful for and then even when we do think about it, we never share it.  My wife has been a real encourager for me in this, as she has been challenging me to make sure I tell people (at least occasionally) how thankful I am for who they are and what they have done.  I will leave  that there until tomorrow.

So for today, all I can say is, Thank you Mom! You will never know how much you have impacted my life and help make me who I am today.  I love you!