I am my mother’s son.
Whenever I think passionately about my faith, whenever I act in ways of compassion — I remember that I am my mother’s son.
Whenever I curl up with a good book and enter into another world for an hour — I remember that I am my mother’s son.
Whenever I think about the needs of the poor and oppressed and try to imagine another way — I remember that I am my mother’s son.
Whenever I lose my keys, my ring, my pen, my wallet — I remember that I am my mother’s son.
Whenever I remember something I read twenty years ago but can’t remember where I read something yesterday — I remember that I am my mother’s son.
Whenever someone compliments me on my speaking ability and my way of putting words together — I remember that I am my mother’s son.
It’s one of the greatest blessings of my life. I am my mother’s son.
And yes, Mom. This is your Mother’s Day card. 
(Others feel free to add something about your mom!)
“When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary* comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.”
*Mary was Paul McCartney’s mother who died of breast cancer when he was 14
My mother, Lena Hortense Cooke, born in 1902 in West Tennessee, was a good person of simple faith. Her favorite passage from the Bible was: “All things work together for good…” She and my beloved father, a minister for fifty years, were “living by faith when they died…” (Heb. 11). Though perhaps greatly flawed by todays theology and scholarship, I treasure the heritage of simple faith handed down from mom and dad. It’s all they left to me and my brother. It’s enough.
I has been a year since my mama died.
Feels sort of strange this year without her.
Hug your mom today, for she might not be there for you to hug tomorrow.
I miss you Mama
My mother is my hero. She is a widow now and has been for 4 and 1/2 years. she has survived a bout of cancer and a year long regimen of chemotherapy. she has lost 2 of her 3 sisters. She has witnessed the slow death of her son ( my younger brother) to the powerful addiction of crack cocaine. She has suffered through and with the divorce of one of my sisters. she survived being in a coma for over a week in which the doctors could find no brain activity….and every day she seeks ways to minister to families with aging parents by staying with them, loving them and treating them as her own family. And when I talk to her about her faith, she feels guilty that she is not more faithful and feels so inadequate. She is my hero of faith. I could say so much more. I love you mom.
Whenever I say something completely outrageous with a straight face simply to enjoy watching the listener try to figure out how to react - I remember I am my mother’s son.
Whenever I cry at Hallmark ads or supermarket openings - I remember I am my mother’s son.
We could have been on with Jerry Springer:
My dad left her after 3 “I do’s”…
My grandmother was competitive and controlling…
Raising two boys on food stamps wasn’t easy…
And yes, she battled with drugs and alcohol…
But after the storms, the disfunction, the depression, the anger - after every outburst and fit of rage, mom would always tell me that she loved me.
And I knew she did. I believed it with all my heart. I still do.
Her life wasn’t my model. Her parenting skills lacked a bit (note to new mom’s: don’t chase your kids with knives or lock them out of the house, etc…) but there was no doubting her love.
It shaped me.
I love you mom!
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.
It has been too many years since you departed. My prayer is that you have found peace with yourself and I’m thankful you have seen the glory of true love in the eyes of your Savior.
You were beautiful and spirited as a true daughter of Erin should be, two things I love so much about you.
I miss you!
I have two mothers from my toddler hood…. and I’m not sure how to love either of them. Moms day has been a struggle for me for decades. My birth mother abandonded me when I was three weeks old. Her alcholism got the best of her. I was given to a family in Jesup Ga. where all this played out. I love my mother Sheila Rogers deeply, as deeply as I know how, being that I was ripped apart from her when I was two years old and my birth mother showed back up to capture me back into insanity. My birth mother has since passed away, and I have little contact with Sheila, although I would love to tell her just how much I appreciate all she gave me during my first two years of life. If you are blessed with loving mom…. celebrate her love, and charish the realtionship you have if it is positive and loving.
I have come to believe that my “parent” is GOD and his spirit is both my mother and my father, so this mother’s day I praise GOD for his unfailing love and nurturing of my chaotic childhood and for protecting me from the wrath of alcholoism and insanity….
May God Bless my birth mother and heal me from the wounds she inflicted on my soul… May God bless Sheila and help me find away to reconcile our relationship so she will know how deeply I love her….even thought I didn’t find out about her until I was 30 years old….
God is good to restore and give back what was lost, even though at times it is not with the people we think it will be with.
Blessings to all mothers!
Mary Harcourt Daugharty
Joel’s comment, especially, caught my eye. Interesting that his mother, in spite of her apparent lack of spirituality, conveyed love in a way that impacted him. My mother, both parents in fact, wouldn’t miss a service. My dad was an elder. I only remember hearing “I love you” one time, and that was during a crisis. It wasn’t like they communicated it in other ways, but just couldn’t say it. I’m sure they did love me, but, for whatever reason, I just didn’t get the message. I didn’t cry at my father’s funeral, and feel just as detached from my mother.
But, praise God, there have been several older Christian women who have helped feel that void, showing me unconditional love and “pushing” me in some ways that have blessed my life. And in my wife, I see the mother for our children that is just the way I would have wanted my mother to be. So I celebrate mother’s day with a thankful heart for those Godly women whose love and influence is so great that it goes beyond the boundaries of their own children.
And if you are blessed with a wonderful mother. Thank God and her!
When I know without a doubt that God is sovereign and that He is good, I know I am my mother’s daughter.
When my Mom was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was so excited. She saw it as an answer to prayer that my Dad would be saved. I think she is smiling down from heaven as she sees her prayers being answered even after her death.
God help me to be your daughter first and be the mom you want me to be for the children you have loaned to me.
When I am cheerful and helpful even when there is chaos all around, I know that I am my mother’s daughter.
When I am stubborn and stand my ground, I know I am my mother’s daughter.
When I turn to the word of God for comfort and guidance, I know I am my mother’s daughter.
When I sing while working around the house, I know I am my mother’s daughter.
When I feel the intensity of my love for my children, I know I am my mother’s daughter.
My mother is incredible.
Thank you. I love you too.
Mike, please, may it be okay with you if I go off topic with a prayer request.
My daughter just called and her youngest son, who will graduate from UCSB next month, had a fall off his skateboard, hit his head on the curb and is in the hospital in Santa Barbara with a concussion and small brain bleed.
We covet the prayers of everyone here for my beloved Scotty.
His plans after graduation [cellular biology] is to work in research for a couple of years before returning to school. He wants to be in the medical field, which will be the vehicle he uses fto be involved as a medical missionary.
Thanks MIke, and bless everyone that takes a moment to pray with me for Scott’s complete recovery.
Prayers for your grandson, Kathy.
My mom is incredible! I probably heard more of the Bible read at home, due to her vigilance in that area, than I ever did at church. Not only did she read it to us, but she challenged us to search out what various passages meant. She also encouraged me to look at how others viewed those same scriptures.
I guess by the time I was 13 years of age, I had read the Bible through several times, the Book of Morman and several Jehovah Witness publications. This made me knowledgeable of what others believed, aware of similarities and sensitive to differences. It also sharpened my desire to know the truth.
Mom is kind, helpful, intellegent and a wonderful cook. As long as I have known her, she has been hospitable to people and also to cats. For years, she taught Bible class and later was highly involved in the single’s ministry.
Thanks, Mom, for being a great mother and a terrific friend.
Mother(s):
“To the world you might just be one person,
but to one person you might just be the world.”
If I who wrote this I’d give credit.
I do, however, know the source: It is God and mothers everywhere. God bless you, everyone of you! And a special thank you goes out to Mike’s mother for the gift you have given us all!
***
If I [insert "knew" here] who wrote this, I’d give credit.
***
If my mother was looking over my shoulder right now, she would probably say, “Proof read, son. Proof read!”
As a dear friend said to me today, “No one can champion the cause of children like a mom!”
I know, I know….all of you think you have the best mom, but it’s not true…mine is the best.
Redneck Mother
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Jerry Jeff Walker
M is for the mud flaps she gave me for my pickup truck
O is for the oil I put on my hair
T is for T-Bird
H is for Haggard
E is for Eggs
R is for Redneck
One little quote that seems, to me, to isolate one of the best qualities Moms can have. It’s not a “mother’s day” quote, but it fits… especially with my mom.
“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”
Thomas Merton
To “Prefer to be anonymous on this one”: Those could have been my words. In fact you almost quoted me. A couple of years ago I gave the “Body of Christ” talk on a Walk to Emmaus. The Body of Christ provided mother figures and role models for me in my youth. I did have a father who actually was somewhat affectionate at times. But mom was cold and distant all her long life.
When Mike was saying he sees things in himself that reflect his mother, I want to say “When I am rude and mean spirited, I am my mother’s daughter. When I give back insults to my husband who has just tried to make me happy with a gift or compliment, I am my mother’s daughter.”
Yes, the years are bringing healing to the bad memories and I can remember the attempts at mothering she did in her own way. She gave me money. She gave me her car when she was too old to drive. But she never said she loved me. And in my young, tender years I was not sure she did, and even looking back on it I am sure she didn’t at that time.
I’m sitting here with tears streaming down my face on Mother’s Day morning. Mother’s day has always been hard, because it was hard to honor my mother. Today I will wear a corsage given to my by my sweet husband, honoring me as a mother. It is not necessarily in honor of my own mother, although I try. I am learning to be loving over the years because of the examples of other people’s mothers.
Wow! The pain is palpable in some of these comments. Prayers are being said. Prayers that God is with you but also that someone close to you knows the pain and is willing to stand beside you today and hold part of that burden for you.
Mom left us three years ago, but she had left a few years before that stricken with ahlheimers(cant remember how to spell it). I miss her today, she was simple, precious, abrupt, harsh, but she gave me all the love she could. I miss her this morning as I do each mother’s day. I hang onto the memories of the good times. I can’t wait to see her again.
Julie, many in our class this morning know the pain. That was a sweet gesture on our teacher’s part, to remember those whose memories are not so sweet. And he tells me he remembers my testimony….
Mike and all,
Off topic again w/follow up about Scott.
He’s been released from the hospital but the doctors have told him he’ll have to be careful for the next 4-6 weeks. They suggested he not try to take the exam tomorrow, but family trait is setting in - it’s called stubborness. I wonder where he could possibly have gotten that bit of DNA? LOL
Anyway, daughter, son-in-law and other grandson are staying with Scott until late tomorrow, then back to the San Diego area. Please continue prayers for Scott, his exam situation and recovery. Bless you all for praying about and for Scott and the family.
btw-Mike, Brian is in a program he decided to get into, and my girl says he’s been able to maintain a conversation for the first time in a couple of years. So, he’s doing better, still fragile, but much better. Again, thanks for your prayers!
Kathy - Thanks for catching me up about Scott this morning. Our prayers for him continue.
This evening, I’ve been listening to a dear friend talk about his mom who died this morning (Mother’s Day). His father was a pilot who died in Vietnam when he was young, and she raised him and his sister. An amazing story.
My mom died of cancer when I was only 10 years old. I spent years trying to see what good came from that. The last several years my wife and I have been volunteers for Rainbows ( Program for children who have experienced a loss from death or divorce). On the first night of the 6 weeks program I start by telling the children, “We have something in common. My mom died when I was your age.” You can hear the walls coming down. They start learning that we all can “cope with it.”
The mom that has my heart today is Kerri Lane. She trusted God enough to give her daughters over to him knowing she would have to let go. Jesus take the wheel.
Mike, you mother is a wonderful Godly woman. She has done a wonderful job with you kids. She is an inpiration to me.
I blogged about my mother yesterday. This is the first Mother’s Day since she passed away so it was kind of bittersweet thinking of all the memories. I learn a lot from that lady. She taught me how to love, how to teach Bible studies, and how to commit myself to the Lord. Thank God for our mothers!