This time of year, we honor our moms for the way they have shaped our lives. For the sacrifices they have made and the love they have shown us through the years.
I’m thankful for my mom, who taught me the value of hard work. She worked harder than anyone I’ve ever known in difficult labor-type jobs: cleaning businesses and wallpapering homes, so she could stay home with us and help provide income at the same time.
But my mom taught me so much more than work ethic. She taught me to serve others. From the time my siblings and I were little, we “adopted” grandparents and visited them, provided for their needs, and learned to treasure them.
But my mom taught me even more than serving others. She taught me compassion and to put others above myself. She taught me how to nurture and care for those who are ailing. She also taught me to be creative and follow my dreams.
But my mom taught me more than that. Now mostly confined to a wheelchair with serious chronic illnesses, my mom taught me the value of faith and how to rely on God in all circumstances. To keep your eyes on Jesus, even when it’s the hardest (and the last) thing you feel you can do. To still serve others in the midst of struggling with your own hardships. To persevere and to never give up. To love others even if that love is never returned.
Moms—you do make an impact on, not just your child(ren), but also future generations. You do this by the way you live, the words you say, and the actions you show day after day.
To moms everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this post. I appreciate you!
The biggest blessing God has given me is the blessing of being a mom! I am honored and humbled that God allowed me to be a mom and I strive to raise my children for Him.
Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of being a mom!
I am also blessed to have a wonderful mom. One of the things I love most about my own mom is that she has always worked hard to care for her family and we always knew she loved us by her actions and her words. Thoughtful and compassionate, she taught us to put others first by modeling that herself.
My mom and dad holding me when I was a baby….
Since it’s almost Mother’s Day, I asked what others love most about their moms. I loved all of these wonderful responses – and what a tribute to moms!
A HUGE thank you to everyone who allowed me to use their quotes here. I enjoyed reading your responses. 🙂 HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
I’ve always felt a special kinship to my mom. In fact, I guess I’m unashamedly a momma’s boy still at age 40. I’ve always loved and appreciated my mom (and dad), but over the last year they’ve both been a shoulder to cry on and offered a hand to hold while my wife and I watched our eldest son battle cancer. I can’t imagine what the past year would have been like without their love and amazing support. ~ Bryan Ridenhour, pastor and blogger.
I love that my mom has always been encouraging and supportive. She always sees the positive and forgets the negative. She has never not believed in me. Even when I feel I am failing to please her, she always says she’s proud of me and what I have accomplished. She tells me to forget what I haven’t accomplished, and that I’ll get there one day, when I’m supposed to be. I am where I am because I need to be. My mom has always been the light at the end of the day that I need the most ~ Taryn
What I love most about my mom is…. that she prays for me, everyday! ~ Anna Leibke
A fiery redhead with spunk, Mama raised eight children with patience, wisdom and love. She planted in us a drive to work, achieve, and serve the Lord. She’s been gone 50 years, yet I can hear her quoting, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath.” ~ Ada Brownell, author of Swallowed by LIFE : Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal
I love my mom because she gets me when nobody else does. I’m alot like her so that helps! We also share a lot of the same reading tastes so I can share most of my books with her. I’m also super thankful that she took the time, and was patient enough to homeschool me and my younger brother! ~ Faye Oygard
I love my mom for just being such a great listener and supporter. She’s my source of encouragement and a real go-getter. She’s fearless and I love that about her! ~ Dee
love my mom for persevering. She had a hard childhood, and has struggled most of her life. Yet she keeps going! AND she would do anything for her kids! ~ Carrie Chwierut media designer at Carrie’s Social
She sacrificed every day to make my life as normal as possible. ~ Ginger Solomon, blogger at A Bed of Roses, Thorns Included
My mom has been gone for 12 years now, but what I remember most about her, is her love of all living things! She loved people, animals and her amazing flower garden. ~ Cindi Hoppes
I lost my mom 4 years ago next month. She was 92. She was a hard working, lovely, sweet, Christ-like woman. As a child she lost her father when only 8 and her mother could not afford to finish raising Mom and her younger brother so they were placed in a Methodist orphanage. She looked back on that experience without harshness though life there was hard. She accepted it and was glad for the provision it afforded her. Mom was always a servant to us and always such a giving and loving person. And man could she cook and could she sew! ~ Vera Godley
She has always stuck by me even at my ugliest she never gave up on me. ~ Lourdes Montes
My mom has spent her entire 88 years giving to others – she was always there when I needed to talk or just needed a hug. ~ Kim Ferland
My mother died one day after her 76th birthday. Happily, she was able to talk to all of us on her birthday–my sister, brother, and me–who were living far from her Florida home. We were able to laugh and tell her we loved her. Her death was following day was totally unexpected. It’ll be ten years this August 11th and I still reach for the phone to call her or say to one of my kids, “I’m not sure about that, but Mother’ll know. Let me…” Then I remember. My favorite thing about her was her gentleness. She mellowed more and more each year. She lived her life in horrible pain (twisted spine as a result of a childhood illness), but never complained, just quietly went about her business, doing what she had to do. I’ll miss her horribly until I can hug her in Heaven one day. ~ Deborah Dee Harper
My mom taught me to love reading. Thanks, Mom! ~ Joy Isley
My Mama is in heaven now, but the thing she taught me I am most grateful for is to trust in God. She taught me there was nothing too big for God to handle. She taught me to put my complete faith and trust in Him. She taught me to be strong and courageous and to never give up. We went through some tough times in our life and in our relationship, but all in all she was my best friend and I miss her greatly. She became very humble in her last days. I always knew when I walked in the room she was glad to see me and I was special to her. I knew she loved me. ~Deborah H. Bateman, Author of: The Book of Ruth: A Story of Love and Redemption and The Book of Esther: A Story of Love and Favor
My mom has guts when it counts. After my dad was killed by a drunk driver when he was 40-years old, she moved our family cross-country — from Oregon to Georgia to start a new beginning for us. She felt it to be the best choice for her kids (1 in college, 1 in high school, and me in elementary school.) It wasn’t a popular choice — especially with my dad’s family, but in hindsight it was the right choice. Would I have done the same thing? I don’t know. She turns 75 this year and I look back and think, “Wow! What a gutsy thing that woman did for us ALL those years ago!” ~ Susan Ferrell
I love my mom because she’s always been so supportive of me and always believed in me even when I didn’t! ~ Liz R.
I was raised at a time when women weren’t seen in church alone. My Mom was a believer. A precious woman who had received Christ as a young teenager but never had the opportunity to be discipled. She was married at 16 and a Mom to twins at 17. My Dad wasn’t a believer. However, my Mom even at that young age new the importance of taking my sister and I to church. She was so brave. I’ve had the privilege to be in full time ministry for 40 years. I will be in her debt always ~ Donna Feddick Fagerstrom
The thing I love most about my Mom is how far she has come in her life. Her childhood was not the best, but she overcame and has been an amazing Mom to my brother and me for the last 35 years! She is a wonderful example to follow as a christian mom now that I have a child of my own. ~ Heather Bergman
She’s there when you need her, there’s never any doubt where help will come from ~ Theresa N.
I love my Mom for who she is. When I was younger and a teenager I really didn’t understand her. Now that I have children of my own I really understand. She is my best friend and she is always there for our family. I hope that someday my children will look back and appreciate me as much as I appreciate my Mom. ~ Amy
I love everything about my Mom.She has always been here for me…she will do anything to help me.I have health problems and she is one of the few people who truly understands what I go through.She has had to deal with so much heartbreak over the years…she lost her only son(my brother)to pancreatis and she has lost two sisters that she loved dearly over the last year….and so much more she has had to go through,but she has kept her faith and continues on.She is getting up in age and I just can’t imagine what my life would be like without her in it…I love her so much….Thanks Mom for all you do. ~ Jackie Tessnair
Honestly, I love my mom most when I am sick. My mom doesn’t show affection often, I think I can count all the times she’s hugged me on one hand. (I think it might also be a culture thing? I guess Chinese people don’t really like skinship?) I am already eighteen, but nothing makes me feel better in the middle of a fever and extreme nausea like a bowl of my mom’s homemade soup. She will never tell me, but she will sneak it on the dining room table so that I can see it…it’s times like these that I feel warm and cuddly inside ~ Lillian, blogger at A Novel Toolbox
It’s impossible to pick what I love most about my mom – she’s seriously one of my favorite people on the planet and everything I aspire to be as a wife & mother. I have so many memories of the special things she would do for us as we were growing up – even the simple things like warming our clothes up in front of the space heater before waking us up for school. And today she is one of my best friends and the #1 reason I miss living in Florida is getting to see her every day. I love that I can always turn to her for advice – be it a disaster in the kitchen or frustration with my husband. I consider myself supremely blessed to have wonderful parents. ~ Kat Vinson
What I love most about my mom is that no matter how she is feeling, she is always there for my sister and me. My mom suffers from a lot of pain due to complications from lupus, but when my older sister, who is also a brittle diabetic, suffered a series of massive strokes at the young age of 27 due to a rare brain disease and was subsequently abandoned by her husband, my mom (and dad) dropped everything to take care of her. I went from looking after my mother to watching her care for my sister even on the days when she felt her absolute worst. No one will ever know just how much my mother has given of herself and sacrificed her own health to ensure that my sister has the best chance of survival day to day. ~ Mallorie
My mama is almost 74 but in poor health. We have almost lost her about 4 times in the past 2 years. What I love about my Mama is that she is the best cook in town. She can definitely do some down home cooking. ~ Vicki Lynch
What I loved about my Mom is that I could pick up the phone and call her anytime of the day or night and share with her what was going on at that moment. I lost my Mom in (99). I miss her so. ~ Terri Clark
Penny Zeller 