Happy Day After Mother’s Day! Former procrastinators, I goofed on posting the Mother’s Day blog! So I’m backing up and reposting because I want to honor my own mom. I hope that remembrances of your mothers and of women who have made a difference in your lives have encouraged you to persevere in your high calling. I hope that you enjoyed sweet moments with your children or others whom you enjoy.
The theme for this year’s blog is “Go There!” Mother was an excellent example of a woman who would leave her comfort zone in order to help or bless others. Because she trusted the Lord, she would take His hand and move forward into a situation for which she felt she was completely unsuited. He used her. And she grew.
Three challenges from her life demonstrate why I value her and her example to “Go There!”
A new job presented her with a surprising challenge. At 22 and a brand new teacher, she met with the principal of the high school. He hit her with a bombshell: “And you will be our new girls’ basketball coach. Here’s the rule book.”
My non-athletic mother had zero knowledge of basketball. She studied that book like crazy. The young team practiced their hearts out. And they went to state!
Years later, she would proudly introduce me to someone and say, “This was one of my basketball girls!” One became a dear lifelong friend. That experience also developed in Mother a love of the sport she never lost; she’d listen to basketball on the radio while the rest of the family watched tv.
A telephone call presented Mother with a very difficult challenge – because she said yes. Someone in heartrending circumstances called her because no one else had stepped into the situation of grief and need. Mother went, nervous, praying, and grieving too. Through God’s strength and courage she was able to witness His healing at work.
In later life, physical disabilities presented Mother with new challenges. She’d always been a fast worker; then life became slow motion. She learned to calculate well and start early. She also kept going no matter what. When friends travelled to football games, Mother and Daddy did too. She’d remain in the room while others went to the stadium. She enjoyed every minute of the trip and never bemoaned what she could not do. When we’d sightsee as a family, she’d move into a wheelchair. “Great! I don’t want to hold anybody up.” And away we’d go. When we moved, she sat unwrapping item after item and was so happy to be the big help she was.
In each of these, Mother could’ve resisted the challenge presented. Instead, she essentially said, “I’m going there!” She didn’t naturally have the ability or the strength and courage required. But she said “Yes” and God gave them.
What challenge presents itself this week that you will say “Yes” to? Go there!
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