Greetings, I55 Ladies

Mother’s Day

Greetings, I55 Ladies:

As we move into this Mother’s Day, I was hit hard by the fact that my little Momma is gone. The fact is that I have missed her for three Mother’s Days now, but this one seemed to lay me lower, for some reason, than the last two. I know that the first one went by in a blur because she died right before that date, and we were busy with funeral arrangements and getting the family all together for the ceremony. Then there were many, many thank you notes to write and things to go through of hers that Daddy felt like he was not going to keep. I took several things and just stored them our garage. I could not even go through them at that point.

Last year I remember being sad but not like this. I guess grief can hit at any time, and no one can explain when or how or how hard it will impact a person when it does. I suppose this year has been harder, in part, because I finally got rid of some of Momma’s things myself – like her sewing machine and materials and some of her keepsakes that had been sitting in our garage. They were things that I could not bear to part with immediately after her death, because they represented so much of what she was and what she did all my life. Now they are gone, and it made me sad all over again to see them go. It’s as if she has been slowly but surely really disappearing from my life.

So, my question to my heavenly Father this week was, “What do I do with this grief that is washing back over me?” And He seemed to tell me to reflect on what it means to leave behind a worthy legacy and to think about how my momma set me up to pass that on to my girls.

First, she was a prayer warrior. Maybe that is why I feel so strongly about praying for my children and encouraging others to do the same for theirs. She prayed before I talked with her, she prayed while we were on the phone together, she prayed after we hung up. One of the things I am fond of reminding God of is His promise to bless the righteous to a thousand generations. I tell Him, because He already knows, that my momma was generation #1, I am part of generation #2, and my children, because we are standing in the gap for them, are now generation #3.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

He has a long way to go with our family! My momma did not have anyone praying for her in generations ahead, but she began to break that chain and spent lots of time on her knees for her family and for mine. Now it is my turn to pass that discipline on to my sons and daughters!

Second, my momma was a woman of the Word. She only had a formal high school education, but no one I have ever encountered knew more scripture and the context thereof than my little momma. The pastor of her church knew that when Momma met him at the front after the service, she would be very respectful and polite, but she was not going to let him get away with using scripture incorrectly. She would also challenge us to know the word and be ready to explain it to anyone who asked. She herself was always ready. She developed ongoing relationships in her town with her hair dresser and others that as soon as she walked in, the discussions of biblical precepts and principals were on. Many people were affected positively by her quiet but determined attitude of wanting them to know the truth about God and what He had to say. She taught Sunday school classes and Precept Bible studies for years, but she did more for friends and acquaintances in her everyday encounters and gentle admonitions, just as she did for me. She took seriously Paul’s admonition to Timothy:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2: 15)

By the time I finished these reflections, I was no longer under that grey cloud of grief. I was rejoicing once again that my momma was and is seeing the face of Jesus, having finished a life in which she walked worthy of her calling in Him.

If you cannot claim to be a generation #3, or later, gal, because you did not have a praying mother or grandmother to show you the ropes, take heart! This Mother’s Day determine, by God’s grace, to be generation #1 in your family, and your sons and daughters will follow then as generation #2 of 1000, as we continue persistently praying for them. Consider that He who has promised is faithful!

In Him,

Dianne