One Amazing Mom

My mom's young life had been filled with hardship. The years of economic depression drove their family to a place along the Continental Divide in Western New Mexico. Her parents eked out a living for their three daughters and two young sons. Then her daddy fell ill. The distance from good medical care left him vulnerable and he died very quickly. She was just 13 years old. That single event did much to shape the course of her life.

At the ripe age of 16, she got married. My dad's military service during World War II moved them around some until he finished his duty. They ultimately settled in a town called Socorro.
I wrote recently about my birth and the faith that surrounded my life before I even knew it. From time to time I share some of the many stories I recall from childhood. My mom is in the middle of most of those.

Mom has known the joy and the pain of raising four children. She endured the loss of one of my sisters -- at age 20 -- in 1976. She carved out a new life of serving others after my dad died in 1990. She was there as Grandma, friend and confidant to my two nieces.

In the midst of it all, she helped provide stability to several foster children. She went back to her studies and got her high school degree after I was grown. She overcame her fear of driving in the city and moved to that place of freeways and harried drivers after dad died.

Now at almost 83 years young, she watches after her two older sisters and keeps her door open to lonely senior adults who live in her neighborhood.

And she continues to be a source of wise counsel for me. I'm 57 years old and she is still teaching me through her humility, her commitment to her family and her simple love for her Savior.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! When I see the amount of love, kindness, and stability that exists in our family, I see the product of your faithful influence.