Why I Love My Mother

So I don't know why, but when I got into bed last night after a riveting game of Phase 10 (of which I lost miserably), the necessity to write a blog about this just seemed to lay itself on me. Therefore, here it is.

I love my Mom because she has ALWAYS been:

... the healing hand that makes me feel better when I'm sick
... the helping hands that have made me many a meal
... a comforting place to rely on in times of heartache and pain
... the sweet arms to be hugged by when you don't feel like you'd been hugged in years
... the gentle voice that woke me up in the morning as a child
... an example of joy about even the most lowly tasks
... a source of knowledge about women that I still have not yet seemed to grasp a bit of
... a great example of genuine worship to the Lord in all situations
... the comfort to help me sleep no matter how sick or scared I was
... the superb mother figure for more than just her three sons
... an example of humility and kindness to a great many people (now even outside the US)
... honoring and non-judgmental to everyone, even people that I feel might not deserve it
... the tender heart that listens when my heart and soul are heavy
... an obvious child of God that loves Him dearly and follows Him closely
... the constant encouragement to me in whatever I choose to do
... a woman that truly makes a house a home, in which anyone feels welcome
... a kind of moral reminder to keep me focused when I start to stray
... an example of strength and forgiveness during the hardest times
... the loving woman who will stop and pray with anyone who may need it
... the one who taught me how to fold laundry and cook
... the supermom who somehow could make food, take all three of us to different practices, and still have the energy and time to make dinner when Dad got home
... an exceptionally accepting person who never "turns her nose up" to anyone... ANYONE
... a constant reminder to be honoring and respectful to others (I'm a slow learner)
... a faithful source of hope when those she loves are choosing poorly with their lives
... the loving spirit that reaches out to the most troubled person
... a source of Godly wisdom that many respect and inquire of
... the voice that told me Bible stories as I drifted off to sleep
... the on-call nurse when anyone was sick

... the person you should blame for having me ;)

This is just a short part of a long list of things that make my Mom so great. I'm gonna go ahead and say that anyone who reads this knows exactly what I'm talking about on several things I've listed. You can't help but be affected by this woman... I don't think that she'll let you not be. haha. The amazing thing is that even though she is all these things (and more) to me, she is certainly the one that I show the least appreciation to. For all the things that she's done, I feel that I've done a very poor job of showing that I truly love and fully appreciate the many contributions she's made to my life (including me having any life at all). God has blessed me SOOOOOOO very much by allowing me to grow up in the home that I did with the parents that I did. I know so many people who were not blessed as I was, and they let me know how "lucky" I am all the time. I'm sorry that I don't see it as much as others do. Not because I don't believe that it's true, but because I so easily forget.

I don't want this to come off as I'm trying to suck up to my Mom or anything. Because if you know her, you know that I have no need to suck up to her. And that's not because I'm the "favored child" or anything. Lord knows that I have made plenty of mistakes of my own, and some of which I still feel the consequences of today (I would be more than willing to list them here, but 1. Probably too long of a list and 2. I don't think it would be respectful to the other people involved). Even so, the fact remains that there is no need to suck up to either of my parents because they both love me unconditionally. Whether I make tons of horrible decisions or only a few little ones, they will not love me more or less. I think that is one of the best things that I have been taught by them throughout my life; no matter how anyone else chooses to act towards me, it is always my decision to love them regardless. Mom didn't do all those things for me because she felt obligated to. She did (and does) them out of a spirit of love that is unending. If we, as men, are suppose to look for women that are like our mothers, then that would explain why I am so picky. And I guess that's what makes... well... let's just say that there aren't very many women on earth that could fit this mold... so screwing up with someone that could fit it is... pretty major (Yeah, that's about the most indirect way to say that). But I'm not going into that. If you would like to hear about 3,000,000 different stories about why my Mom is so great, you could go down to Belpre church and ask just about anyone, you could go to several churches around the country that she speaks at, you could ask the many OVC women who have had her for class and always tell me that they love her, you could ask the two daughters that my parents "adopted" (but not really since their 25 and 29), you could ask around Charton (where she works), or you could ask many mothers and children in Honduras (if you speak Spanish that is). I guess all this is really just to say that... I love my mommy. :)