Thankful for Mom

 

Happy Mother’s Day 2010

This post is dedicated to my mom, Sherry Godby, and my mother-in-law, Sissy Hamilton.  I am so thankful for their influence on my little family!

As I was thinking on Mother’s Day this year, I could see things from a different perspective.  Every other Mother’s Day was seen from the “child’s” eye.  This year, I am a Mommy too, and I think I can better appreciate my mom and mother-in-law.  (Well…I don’t have any boys yet, so I can’t fully understand everything Ben put his mother through!).

There are three things in particular that I cherish about these two women we are honoring today.  First, I am so blessed that they are godly women.  They sought (and I think succeeded) to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  All of their children are still in church and seeking to please the Lord with their lives.  That can’t be said of too many women today!

I also realize now that it takes a special dedication to be a stay-at-home mom.  While many women don’t have the opportunity to stay home with their kids, I am grateful that my moms chose to do just that.  The working mom has twice the responsibility – that of her employer, and that of her home.  But the SAHM is “confined” (as our world states it) with her children all day long, every day.  My mom and mother-in-law did not give up partway through the task of raising their children so that they could return to the workplace.  They chose to find their fulfillment in the God-given role of wife and mother.  That is special to me, a rare find in our culture today, and an example for me to follow.

The third thing I love about my mothers is that they were both homeschooling moms.  I’m sure that neither one felt adequate to the task of educating their children from kindergarten through completion of high school, yet they each did it three times over.  Again, not everyone can or wants to be a homeschooling mom, but in my eyes it shows that these special ladies had an extra dedication to raising their children for the Lord.  I am grateful for each day of sacrifice, each “trying” moment, and every math assignment that they didn’t understand!  My mom has graduated all three of her kids, they were all accepted into college, and the two who have graduated from college had above-average grades.  I think she was “adequate” to the task! 

I am so blessed to have a godly husband, and even more blessed that he comes from a godly family.  Many times I have thanked my mom for her influence in my life.  She was always there, always praying, always loving.  She gave me what I needed to be prepared for life – whether a spanking, a Bible lesson, or a hug and understanding.  I know that Ben feels the same way about his mom.

Now that I am a Mommy too, I can understand just a little bit more  what it means to have moms like these.  And I am abundantly blessed to have a daughter whose grandmothers are living lives worth following.

Today my pastor preached on Jochebed, the mother of Moses.  He said that “when she could no longer protect her child at home, she left him in the hands of God.”  I’m sure there were times when our moms didn’t know if they had done the right thing, or they wondered if we would make the right choices.  In those moments they left us in the hands of God.   I am so glad that my children will always be safe in God’s hands, even when I have no control over the situation.

So thank you Mom (Sherry) and Mom (Sissy) for all that you have been, all that you are, and the grandmothers that you are going to be.  We love you.  Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,
Ben, Andrea, & Elaine

By the way, my husband was fabulous today.  I received a nice card and lovely present, he went for Elaine when the nursery paged me so I could sit through the service, and he took me to lunch.  Elaine, however, did not get the memo that mommies get to sleep in on Mother’s Day.  She was up at 5:45!  It was a very special first Mother’s Day!