I have one of the sweetest Moms of anyone I know. Everyone loves her, and if I forget that, her friends remind me. She’s lived an adventurous life. After getting saved via Young Life, she went off to Jungle Camp as part of missionary training. She tells stories of long hikes, snakes, and other such things. Her desire to serve the Lord brought her to far-off Alaska as a Wycliffe Missionary, away from her own family in the Lower ‘48.

Somewhere along the way, she ended up being a Home Economics teacher at the same BIA boarding school as my Dad, and the students there knew long before they did that that my parents were meant for one another.

As she and my Dad have gotten older, I’ve started to reflect a bit on our childhood, and what I’ve learned from each of my parents. Here are some the things I learned from Mom.

Put God First
Mom consistently got up early to pray and read the word. For as long as I can remember she had breakfast on the table by 7 am, and her daily meetings with God started long before.
Believe the Best about People
Any time I would express frustration with someone or gossip about someone, my mom would be quick to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. She would share a reason that perhaps made the other act the way they did. For a long time, her gentle deflection frustrated me. Now I see it as a specific habit of mind she practices. Teaching empathy is en vogue these days. My mom was teaching it long before it became the thing.
Life is Better with Friends
My earliest memories are of our home filled with women. My mom had friends over for Bible Studies all the time. They didn’t all attend the same church. Mom always had an eclectic group of friends who would gather. When there wasn’t a Bible Study going on, Mom would have friends over for coffee. Her life was has always been filled with relationships, and she accepts everyone.
Love Sacrifices
My mom cooked 3 meals a day consistently for over 50 years. Breakfast was at 7 am, lunch was served at noon, and dinner was at 5 pm. When I was little, we would eat out every Sunday afternoon after church and go for a Sunday drive, but other than this, vacations, and occasional meals out at other times, my mom maintained this schedule faithfully as a labor of love. Being single, and never having cooked 3 meals in ONE day, I cannot fathom this.
Invest in the Next Generation
My mom and another young couple started a youth group called HIM club or Heaven-in-Me Club. If memory serves, she worked with these youth long before myself or my 2 brothers were truly old enough to be in the group. She’s always had a heart for the unchurched.
When I was 3 or 4, we had a Bible Club in our home for the neighborhood kids. And, once Young Life finally made it to Sitka, Alaska Mom got involved, attending weekly prayer meetings, and supporting the program financially and by way of encouragement of it’s leaders.
God Answers Prayer
My mom tells the story of waiting on Oral Roberts as a young waitress in Lake Oswego. She was quite impressed with his kindness and told us as children that she was praying that one of us would go to Oral Roberts University. My brother Ken attended ORU and met his lovely wife there. As for me, downtown Lake Oswego is my happy place, a stone’s throw away from where my Mom worked.
Remember your Missionaries
My mom, the Wycliffe missionary, has never lost her missionary heart. As a senior citizen she took on the task of being the voice of the missionaries for her church. She interceded for them regularly, she corresponded with them often, and she created a bulletin board where church members could stop and catch up on the latest newsletters from the field. Her heart was filled with their stories, and she would happily talk about them, and their pictures could often be found on our refrigerator along with those of her kids and grandkids.
Gratitude Changes Everything
Mom has not had an easy life, nor does she have an easy life now. This Spring we moved her into an assisted living home. My Dad wasn’t ready to move yet, and so they are apart for the first time in their marriage. The home is nice enough, but she went from a big, beautiful home to a room. Yet you would think she won the lottery to talk to her. She raves about her view, brags about the workers, and talks about her friends at the home. She always has a good report ready to offer to anyone who asks.

When I think back over life with Mom, that has been her story, that has been her song. She found Jesus as a young adult, and was so thankful for the changes he brought to her life that she forever after determined to be thankful for the good things in life.

When I grow up, I hope to be just like her.

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