Mothers' Day...hmmmmm...

Mother's Day.

My first memory of a Mother' Day is being a very little girl, running from the balcony of our church, down the stairs, to the front of the auditorium to get the gift my Mom would receive for being the "Youngest Mom" in attendance that day!

I was SO proud..I was 3 or 4, which would have made her 23 or 24...I don't even remember what the 'gift' was, but I remember being very proud of her. I still am. She's a woman of great faith...of great strength and courage. She's a woman who fears little, and is a constant encouragement to me in my walk with my God! I praise God for her life. I praise God for the love she instilled in me at a very young age to love Jesus, His church and serving in His kingdom! She's a wonderful woman. I love her very much, and because she's a follower of this blog: I LOVE YOU, MOM!

I come from a long line of very strong, courageous, faithful women. Women who, for the most part, found God at a young age, and served Him faithfully their whole lives....grandmas, aunts, cousins, my sister, ...all very sweet women of God! I praise God for the legacy they left for me...and pray that I continue to pass that faith on to my children and grandchildren!

Mother's Day, in recent years, has been very difficult for me...I wrote about that a few 'posts' ago. But, as I shared then, I have been praying about this day for a few weeks, and purposed in my heart for it to be a day of rejoicing! The focus would be on enjoying who IS here, not who ISN'T here.

I can tell you: God is faithful! This day, no, this entire week end, has been a gift. A beautiful gift of celebration and laughter and food and more laughter and pictures.

This morning at church, though, it came to me: The Reason that I had felt prompted to bathe the prospect of this day in prayer, it was to prepare me for the events of the day. You see, a couple from our church lost their son this morning. We got the call during our Sunday school time.

As I sat in the ER 'trauma room' with them for a few moments, it just came to me, 'we're sitting in the exact same room where we last said good bye to our little one, and here's this couple saying their last good bye to their son on Mother's Day. Mother's Day. hmmmm.

My prayer will be for comfort for them, in the quiet places of their soul, the places that only God can touch and minister to in these times.

Through the brief moments there, I was again reminded of the brevity of life itself. I was also reminded that our lives can change in an instant. These facts make me even more determined to celebrate each and every moment we have with those we love! I do not intend to take anything that we enjoy for granted. Join me in living this life on purpose. Let's do our best to purpose to honor God with our lives, our choices and our celebrations...He is Faithful--remember: Honor your Mother!--But, above that: Honor God in all we do!!!