Then I got to thinking about my kids and when they've acted out and been the "black sheep" of our family for a time. I felt the love Christ has for each one of us. I know that the one constant with my kids is that I have continued to love them and have tried to separate what they've done with loving who they are. Whether or not i was successful is up to them. They must decide if their mother loved them even when they knew they were doing what I wouldn't have approved of. But I realized that was also a Christ like attribute.
Then I thought of my mother. You loved all of us. You were involved in each of our lives. You really try to make me feel special, that I was worth talking with and have a little less sleep time, this I was of worth to mend a yellow nightgown and get me a wonderful rocking chair when money was tight. I think of all the many times you so willingly pick me and my family up from the airport and take us back to the airport, who loves for us to come visit, pick some oranges, play some games or play dough with my new little ones. No wonder they love you and want to be around you! Thank you Mother, for your love, and your Christ like example.
Since seeing the picture and wanting to find a copy, I found out it is a Minerva Teichert art and that it is called 'Finding the Lost Sheep'. Now, that kind of ruins my thinking. I wasn't lost, I was just different and lonely. I was picked up and loved. That message applies to so many more of us. We try our best, do our best, hold on to that which we know is true but feel left out of the "Norman Rockwell" picture. I like my first impression of being with the large group, being different and being loved. So think outside that box of "Christ is rescuing the black sheep..." Think about the love Christ has for each one of us. Think about him holding you and giving you a break from the rest of the flock. of getting to know you, letting you know he knows you and loves you. It's not rescuing you because you're not doing wrong things, it's loving you because you're doing the right things!
Thank you mother for being an example of how to live as a senior, a widow and selflessly serving others. Of being involved with those around you, fulfilling church callings dependably, of going over 100,000 miles on your exercise bike, reading your scriptures and praying daily, enjoying the nature around you (even when it means figuring out how to prune trees, water all those plants and keep order in your garden. Of knowing how much you can do and saying "no" to that which you can't. Of taking classes to learn new technology. For enduring hearing aids so you can still take a vital part in our lives.
When I was little, we still lived in Orangevale, CA, I remember my sister Eileen and my mother having an argument. I do not know what it was about nor do I care to, for it is unimportant. I remember waking up from that nap on the couch, hearing their voices in the dark, and hearing another still, quiet voice. It said, "You're mother is right. Listen to your mother." I have tried to do that. And I have wished that my children had been blessed with that inspiration also. Oh well, i guess I am not always right. At that time however, I realized my mother was a wise woman and to listen to her. As you can see, she continues to show me by her Christlike example wisdom in every stage of life.
I do love my mother more and more.
