HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Today is my mom's birthday!  I want to tell you what I love about my mom and have learned from her...

• My mom has always been a pursuer of spiritual things.  
• She's made sure her kids had those same opportunities to grow spiritually.  We were involved in Good News Clubs, CEF camps, and CEF training, Bible Memory Association and BMA camps, church, and mission projects--all our lives.
• Mom has always been hospitable.  Our home was always open.  She made it seem like a game to clean house in order to have friends over for dinner.  She made us eager to invite friends over.  She's hosted "42 parties" for their friends as long as I can remember.
• Mom was willing to go anywhere or do anything for a vacation.  That might mean camping in a tent in the mountains or at the lake and cooking over a campfire.  She would pack everything we'd need to travel across the country for one-to-two weeks with 4 kids.  We traveled all over the United States as a family. 
• Mom taught us to care for others.  We took care of my younger cousins who were being raised in a single household, we invited an orphan to our home for the Christmas holidays, we ministered to other races in a time when that wasn't the norm.
• I always knew my mom wouldn't care if I  offered our home for any gathering with my friends.
• Mom was a seamstress and would sew anything I wanted.  I had many matching outfits with my friends--back when it was cool.  She'd sew choir dresses, dresses for bridesmaids, flower girls, etc.
• Mom wasn't afraid of work.  She was a stay-at-home mom most of my life, but began working outside the home when I got older to help with family expenses.  She's a hard worker and taught us that same work ethic.
• Mom would work hard to prepare for Sunday.  She'd make bread and pies on Saturday so they'd be ready for Sunday.  Our hair was washed and curled on Saturday, shoes shined, dresses and shirts and pants ironed.  Saturday was a day of preparation for church.  We even put our offering in our offering envelopes on Saturday so they'd be ready for Sunday School.
• Mom is a wonderful grandmother and great-grandmother.  She would come and get my kids to give me a break many times.  She always made sure she had cookies in the cookie jar for them!   Even 4 years ago, she went with me to help her granddaughter move.  She's also babysat her great-grandchildren.

I'm grateful for who my mom is, for what she's taught me, for who she continues to be.  I love that she has so many interests and has such a full life...and that she's still always up for an adventure!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

I love you,

Becky