Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Mother: The Passions of Her Heart

Yesterday marked 21 years since my mother's homegoing. I spent all day searching through photo boxes and memorabilia for things that might express a little of what she means to me. But of course,I found way too much material for one little post. Trying to distill it was almost painful. In many ways, my mother was larger than life. The youngest of nine children, she was tall, loud, talked with her hands, spent most of her life fighting weight problems, and had an almost compulsive need to confront wrongdoing and injustice when she found it. But somehow this all added up to being wonderful! Underneath, she was very tenderhearted. What she chose to love she loved passionately. First and foremost she loved the Lord God with all her heart, soul, and mind. Then she loved her family. Though my father was the quieter one of the two, my mother had a very scriptural awe and reverence for him. She would allow no disrespect for him from anyone. And how she adored babies and children! Being a mother and grandmother was truly her life's calling. When we children started leaving the nest, she found others to nurture. Nurturing and service were definitely her "language of love". When there were no people around, she lavished her attentions on her pets, or her garden. When we moved to southern Oregon in 1959 and bought a half acre of very fertile ground, she had discovered a new joy. At first she had planted a large vegetable garden to help feed her growing family. Then when she and Dad finished building a house on the property, she took great delight in landscaping the yards. I don't think there was a flower she didn't like. Dad laughingly swore he was going to put blinders on her whenever they drove by a plant nursery. Once she had a dream of heaven, and in the end she was walking in a field of waist-high flowers that stretched as far as she could see!

Much of who I am and what I believe I owe to my dear mother. In my earlier post, called Mercy I described a seven year period in my life when I was angry. It was only many years later, after the Lord restored me, and after Mom had died, that I found out just how much she had prayed for me during that time. Thank you, God, for a mother that prayed! I can hardly wait for heaven to love on her again.

Here is a slide show that I managed to put together with a lot of difficulty (lol) that says a little of what I feel:


4 comments:

  1. Hey Denise, I really loved that you did that slide show of Mom. It is wonderful. You had a picture in there that I had not seen before of her and Dad with Sherri when she was new born. That was such proud day for her! Thanks for putting that labor of love together.

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  2. Wow! That was awesome! I loved your Mom too! She was a very wonderful Christian lady. It can’t be too much longer until we all see her again and Jesus!!! Yeah!!!

    Kristine

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  3. Hi Denise!!
    Such a beautiful tribute to your Mom. I still have trouble looking at certain pics of my Mom, and missing her. I, too, look so forward to seeing her again in heaven!! What a joyous day that will be!! To be united with all those who have gone before us...I have four more babies up there, too!! Maybe they're the boys since we have four daughters here!!

    Sweet blessings to you! What a blessing to be able to say we had great Moms!!
    HUGS Becky

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  4. I recently went through a lot of old pictures of my mom and it is definately an emotional experience. You certainly put together a beautiful tribute to your mom. Thanks for sharing : )

    May the Lord comfort your heart and fill the longing you have in missing your mom.

    Bless you...

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