Mother's are like that! 9/28/08

MOTHER’S ARE LIKE THAT!
My Mom was the most no nonsense mother that I had ever met. That probably surprises you that I say it like that. Well, there have been other mothers in my life who have nurtured me as I grew to womanhood and have made imprints upon my life but the footprints of my mother were the ones I was to follow. My mother was truth but she was not perfect.....My mother was busy because she realized her responsibilities.....My mother received the love and respect of her children because of who she was not because of what she was......
As a child my mother would talk about how much she loved the Lord. She would send her younger children to Sunday School and Church and encourage them to participate in all the church activities but she never went or participated. When I was 15 my father died, she began to attend church. She would say she didn’t go before because of my Dad. I am sure that is true and I know because of her schedule of working, caring for a growing family and keeping all of her 14 children under control kept her from doing many things that she would have loved to do.
However, none of that kept me from resenting her renewed faith in the Lord and the fact that she seemed all of sudden, holier than thou. I became a Christian at the age of 10 and I knew so much more than she did. Why is it that now, she has become "so wonderful"!
It seemed that I couldn’t let my self accept this change in her. I thought she was now trying to tell me how to be a Christian instead of seeing that she just wanted to be one with me. I couldn’t see that she was trying to understand me. I harbored mixed emotions regarding this situation for a couple of years. I held it deep inside where no one could see, except for God. I knew my feelings were wrong and I was ashamed of how I felt. I had trouble understanding!
One evening service, the pastor was talking about how personal our relationship was with God. No one relationship was the same as another. When we come to the Lord it is on a personal basis and no one can say it is or isn’t real. I began to think about my feelings regarding Mom’s relationship with the Lord. Wow! Was that an eye opener! For years Mom kept her feelings to herself and when she was free to express her love for the Lord I wanted to pounce all over it. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about Love. Especially verse 4, where it says; " Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant". Believe me, that put me in my place. I realized that my feelings were resentful! I should have been happy that she was now free. Free to live and love the way she wanted to!
Mothers love their children differently than husband and wives love each other. It is even different than how siblings love each other. A mothers love is sort of like playing the ‘waiting game’. She teaches a child something and then waits to see if it is taking hold. Her love doesn’t falter when some things take longer to learn than others. She waits! I was the child that when she said to jump, I didn’t ask; "How high"! I was the child that asked; "Why"! Her only response to that was; "Your middle name should have been, why"!
Because she was not demonstrative I became a mother who was....because my mother was strict I was not as strict.....because my mother was so busy I made extra time for my children.....because she loved the Lord, I too love the Lord with all my heart. Life is too short for us to take sides as to who is a better Christian. Life is too short for us to criticize each others walk. Verses 5-7 says; "Love does not act unbecomingly, seeking its own. It does not provoke nor keep records of being wronged. Rejoices in the truth! Bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. Growing up in Christ takes time! Growing up takes time! When I finally grew up, my mother and I became free in Christ! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 1/21/08