Memories of My Mom

Since this is Mother's Day weekend, I have been thinking a lot about my wonderful
mom, who went home to be with the Lord six years ago. I have so many
precious memories of her. In honor of her for Mother's Day, I'm going to share
the following thoughts that I wrote after she died, and that my brother
read at her funeral.

When I think of my mom, and think back over the years, the first word that
comes to my mind is JOY. My mom had the joy of the Lord.

I remember as a young girl, hearing her sing hymns as she washed the dishes, or
cleaned the house. She'd sing as she drove the car. Mom would listen
to Christian music and sing along as she worked around the house.

She taught me by her example to be joyful in the Lord, and let Him be my
strength when there was hurt. I remember a time when she was hurt by a
situation at church, where she was treated wrong. As we left church that
evening, there were tears running down her face. As we got into the car,
I heard her quoting a Bible verse about the joy of the Lord. As we drove
home, she sang. In other difficult situations, where others would have been
unhappy, Mom continued to smile and sing.

Later in life, Mom developed Alzheimers disease, and as it progressed, she
gradually began to lose her ability to communicate verbally. However,we still
knew the joy was there. When we walked into the room to visit her,she would
look up and start to giggle. She would be silly, and just laugh over
nothing. She still had the joy of the Lord despite her failing health. Right
up to almost the end, she would open her eyes and smile at us. When we sang
hymns to her, though she was very weak, she would sing a phrase or two with us.
She was still finding her strength in the Lord!

From the verse in Nehemiah 8:10 we sing the little song, "He fills my mouth with
laughter, ha ha ha ha ha; oh the joy of the Lord is my strength." Every time I
hear that song, I will think of my mom and remember how she loved to laugh,
and how she taught me the importance of finding strength through the joy of
the Lord.