I have always been a “Daddy’s girl.” My dad and I have similar personalities and temperaments, we rarely ever butt heads, we both have a hilarious (corny) sense of humor, he is a lot of fun to be around, we both love Mexican food, bike riding, going to church every week, being outside, and taking naps. I am 23 years old and still believe my dad hung the moon and knows the right answer to everything. I love my dad.
But in the past couple of years, I have really come to appreciate my mom. I think I have taken for granted the wonderful, godly woman she is; the way she is the glue that keeps our family grounded and together, sacrificing to serve us every single day. The older I get, the more I see how much her life has built into mine. On Mother’s Day a few weeks ago, I didn’t write a sappy Mother’s Day post, 1. because I don’t like sappy, and 2. the rebellious spirit that lives inside of me doesn’t like to do what everyone else is doing. BUT, my mom is awesome, and I want to tell you a few reasons why:
1. She is a great writer
She will never tell you, so I will tell you for her. She has a great gift of writing, and often writes devotional type pieces from what she is reading in the Bible and sends them to us for encouragement. I love reading them and gleaning wisdom from my mom. I am trying to convince her to put them out there for everyone to read, but I haven’t quite succeeded in that yet. 🙂
2. She is very thoughtful
Speaking of writing, in the year of 2012 she journaled for an entire year; writing down things she was learning and God was teaching her, and then printed them all out, put them in a binder, and gave us all a copy for Christmas with a personalized letter in the beginning. Isn’t that the most thoughtful gift you have ever heard of? I pull it out from time to time to read through, and I know this is a gift I will keep and look back on the rest of my life. My mom is extremely thoughtful and intentional in the way she loves people. (By the way, I inherited 0% of this quality from her; it was all given to the Golden Child, Courtney Vineyard).
3. She loves Jesus
I guarantee you my mom has prayed about every aspect of my life 100xs more than I have – everything from my salvation, spouse, friends, school, jobs – anything going on in my life, she has covered in prayer. She seeks God, knows Him, and trusts Him, and you better believe she is petitioning to God on behalf of her family. What a great example.
4. She has a huge heart
You will always find my mom reaching out to people who may be left out or excluded. She sees and thinks of those who everyone else forgot about. She is the one cheering for and befriending the underdog. God has given her a gift and heart of compassion. (This quality was also given solely to the Golden Child.)
5. She is hard working and sacrificial
My mom has always been a very hard worker; she sacrificed to stay home and raise her kids, and then went back to teach elementary school after. She is not the type to “sit around” – she is always up getting something done. A couple years ago, my dad suffered from a major stroke, and I watched my mom sacrifice so much to stay by him and give so much to contribute to his recovery.
My mom is awesome, and she would be the first to tell you she is far from perfect, as we all are, but I see God’s grace working in and through her life in a beautiful way. As I continue to “grow up”, I am thankful to have a godly woman to look up to, one I get to call mom.
Yes, that is my mom front and center with the camera 🙂
Above All Else 