Reflections of Mother

In July it will be three years since my mother’s death. The time of her illness and death had such a pull on my emotions.  I was in the midst of transitioning ministry positions.  I had been coming back and forth to Little Paint for meetings with the leaders about the possibility of pastoring here.  Our house in Indiana had sold and we had to move by the end of the month.  In the midst of my personal life changes, my mother had a stroke.  For three weeks we traveled back and forth from Indiana to Kentucky trying to be there for mom while dealing with our own life situations. 

It is hard to see someone who was so animated and independent become so restricted.  Although her initial diagnosis for recovery was hopeful, mom had other ideas.  She feared the thought of a nursing home.  She didn’t want to burden my brothers and me with her care.  So she decided to go home.  Not back to my childhood house, but to the heavenly home promised her by the Lord since the time she first believed in Christ for her salvation.  Even in death she remained one of the most determined individuals I have ever known.

As I reflect back on her life and what she instilled in my life, I find the foundation of much of who I am.  The greatest lesson was to keep my eyes on Jesus and not other people.  People will disappoint you, Jesus never will.  Through the ups and downs of her life, her consistent faith was an example to all her boys.  She was a prayer warrior, firmly believing in God that all things were possible.  It was from her personal relationship with Christ that she could handle all she did with four men in the house and their activities.  A general guiding the troops at times, a nurse mending a wound, master chef, maintenance foreman, a counselor advising the questioning, a continual calm force amid life’s disasters--she was all of them.

When the hard times come in my life, I always look to the personal strength of character Mom placed in me and to the God she knew would never fail.  When I think of my children and grandchildren, my greatest hope is that they will serve the Lord with all their hearts.   I hope when my time comes to die, they will reflect back on the heritage of faith that began many years ago with their great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and father before they were even born.

Thanks, Mom--you gave me the greatest gift of life, the way to eternal life.  I trying my best to pass it on.

Happy Mother’s Day,
Pastor Jeff