Mom

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.  She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.   Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all."~ Proverbs 31:26-29 ~(NKJV)  "Mom" In that one simply spoken single syllable is a lifetime of memories - of treasures."Mom" equates love - unconditional, unending love - no matter what! Just three weeks ago my beautiful Mom passed away quite suddenly.She was only 65 years old, her heart simply failed, and she was gone.And life will never be the same. There is no way to summarize all that my Mom was, nor is there a need to do so here...      I would like, however, to share this. These thoughts have come to mind recently and cause my heart to smile. Mom always looked forward.She looked forward to big events like weddings, grandbabies, and birthdays.She looked forward to traveling with Dad to visit their kids and grandkids.She looked forward to when her kids and grandkids traveled to visit her!                                  She looked forward to every Sunday worship service                                                and every bible study time with fellow Christians.She looked forward to quiet times to draw and paint.She looked forward to volunteering at the local benefit shoppe. She looked forward to trying out a new recipe.She looked forward to 'catching up' with each of her children and grandchildren on the phone each day.Mom looked forward to loving us, hugging us, reassuring and encouraging us, cheering us on!But most importantly, she looked forward to a home in heaven.She lived her life faithfully before God.

As a teenager Mom learned the Truth (Romans 10:11-16). She believed it (Romans 10:17) and she obeyed it. She followed the examples of the men and women found in the New Testament - she understood her need for repentance (Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30, 2 Peter 3:9) and she confessed that Jesus is, indeed, the Son of God (Acts 8:37, Romans 10:8-10), and she was immersed into the waters of baptism for the remission of her sins (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21). She rose to walk in 'newness of life' (Romans 6:1-4) and from that day forward Mom never looked back. She never wavered in her faith. She wholly committed herself to God and was determined to continue to learn and know His will from studying the Bible. When she had struggles she prayed to God for help, comfort, and forgiveness. When she rejoiced, she filled her prayers with praise.  

Mom walked all her days honouring God and doing her very best to obey His will. 

That is why today, Mother's Day, is bittersweet... I won't be getting Mom's phone call telling me how cheery the flowers we sent look on her table, I won't hear her laughter on the other end of the line. I won't hear her say, "I love you bunches and bunches Sweetie!" after telling her how deserving she is of all the happy thoughts and well-wishes that come on this wonderful day set aside to honour Moms...

No, none of that will happen, but one thing that can and will happen - I can and will praise our glorious Father in Heaven for blessing us with a Mom who was an example of love and faithfulness in all things - especially in her walk before Him - because of that I have every confidence that Mom is resting from her labours (Revelation 14:13). I can't help but be thankful to God for providing a hope for life beyond this life! If we live our life according to His will and command we can firmly trust that when our life here ends (or Jesus returns) that we will see her again! We will stand shoulder to shoulder with our dear Mom and together, with the saved of all ages, we will praise our magnificent God for all of eternity!!

       So today I will think on the forty Happy Mother's Days I did share with my Mom - and every day in-between! I will continue to rise up and call her blessed! I will rejoice over the many reasons I can thank God for her and for all that she means to me -  in doing that, I will never stop being thankful for my Mom!! ♥ Cath-