This post may take the place of my regular Monday post!

I just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there. I am not yet a mother, though I intend to be one some day! I do, however, have great respect for mothers of all ages, from the young military wives to those of you who have been mothering for 40+ years. I especially want to make sure my own mother knows how much she is appreciated today!

Who She Is

Without giving away personal information, I want to tell you a bit about my mom. She got married as a young Christian woman, and she and my dad became missionaries very shortly afterwards. She gave birth to my sisters and me while living in Suriname, South America, and she raised all of us there, including my brother, who was born in the states. When I was three, our family moved to Texas, and my mother had to go through a painful divorce. All of us children stayed with Mom, and she managed to keep going through such a hard time. My eldest sister married, the next oldest went away to college in another state, and my brother soon left to live with Dad, leaving just Mom and me for most of my childhood.

As a single parent, she managed to keep me in a a home that was never lacking in, well, anything. We never ran short of anything or ran out of any essentials. In fact, the idea that such a thing could happen never crossed my mind, as our home was so stable to me. She went back to school and completed her nursing degree while working another job, and when she finished she found a steady job that, while not the most enjoyable, allowed us to have that stability we needed. She even managed to get me a good education, despite my problems with depression and my constant refusals to go to school.

Throughout it all, most importantly, she taught me about God. She talked about Him as a real person, and her faith always seemed unwavering. She had me in church and read me Bible stories, prayed with me every night, and answered my questions to the best of her knowledge. When I hit my rebellious years, she let me choose to stop attending church as long as I went with her every other week, which I consider to be a big part of the reason I started seeking again, looking for answers. She was, of course, very happy to find out that I’d accepted Christ as my savior and wanted to start going to church more often (which turned out to be Sunday morning and evening, Tuesday night youth Bible study, and Wednesday night prayer meeting).

Beyond that, she has always given me sound advice, though it has at times been hard to hear. She keeps an open mind and allows me to form my own opinions about things, even when she thinks my opinions are misguided.

Once I reached adulthood, she helped me financially when I got into trouble until I eventually matured enough to manage my life better. She stuck with me through my wandering years, brought me back home when I hit rock bottom, put up with my attitudes, helped me job hunt, and is basically one of my heroes.

I look up to her so much.

I love you, Mom! I’m so glad I had you, growing up, and that I still have you now. I’m so glad you found such a great man who loves you like you deserve to be loved! Looking forward to seeing you soon!