Happy Mothers Day! A tribute to my wonderful mother :)

Yeah, yeah, you think you're mom is great...but that's just because you don't know my mom.  She is the most amazing wonderful mother that anyone could ever ask for!

my parents...B.C. (before children...)

I am my parents' first child and was born with a perforated intestine.  My dear sweet mother (and father) spent countless hours at the hospital while I underwent several surgeries and recoveries during the first few months of my life.  On her very first Mother's Day when their church asked all the mothers to stand up and be recognized, she stood up in tears while her new baby daughter was in the NICU.

in the hospital wearing a face mask in order to care for her newborn daughter (me!)

My mother has been self-sacrificing from the very beginning!  She stayed home with all her children so that she could raise us in a godly manner.  She home schooled us for periods of time, taught us a love of reading, how to be frugal, the joy of being a hostess, and exemplified what it means to be a loving wife and mother.  She has joyfully opened her home for nearly 30 years to college students who need a "mom" while at school.  She has served innumerable meals to hungry teenagers and college students, made treats to minister to her children's teachers, and blessed everyone with her gift of hospitality.  She is one of the few people that I know who truly has a servants heart. 

So many people joke about becoming their mothers, but I can honestly say that I aspire to be just like her--when people say that we are similar I take that as such a complement!  (and it is true...just look in our houses--they are even decorated the same!)

our family Christmas picture last year--mom is so beautiful!

Mommy, I love you so much.  Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made to teach us to love the Lord and be good stewards of what we have been blessed with.  You are truly one of my very best friends and I adore this season of life that we are in right now.  I'm thankful that I can encourage you and "love-on" you now, even it it's only a fraction of what you have done for all of us over the years.  Thank you for modeling a godly marriage to me, it is so rare these days.  You are a woman of God and I am so blessed to have you!  I love you!