Celebrating Mothers

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday......worship at FBC Brandon was wonderful, lots of babies were dedicated to the Lord, was able to spend time with Brian, Emily and Christopher, talked to Brandon and AJ on the phone last night, and my sweet husband took me out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant here in Jacksonville.  Our vacation is over (well, Al's vacation is over.....he's working as we spend this week traveling back toward home, but I'm still vacationing!).  As we begin a new week, I'm still thinking about Mother's Day.....remembering my mother and my grandmother and celebrating those memories.  I'm celebrating the joy of being a mother and a grandmother.  I'm so thankful for the blessing of my sons.....the sons God gave me, the ones the doctors said I would never have.  I'm loving my role as Nana, being grandmother to two precious little boys that bring me so much joy!  I'm celebrating the mothers of those little boys.......the "daughters" who came into my life because they are the women my sons chose.....the women who love my sons.  I celebrate the joy they each bring to our family, their unique personalities and gifts, and the blessing they are to all of us.

Mostly I celebrate that my mother and my grandmother, and the countless grandmothers before them that I never knew, as well as those "daughters" who are now part of my life, all love the Lord and His Word, and I celebrate the commitment of each of those women to teach His Word and His ways diligently.  I celebrate our commitment to have families who love Jesus.  I celebrate our desire to honor Him in all we do and say.

My prayer for us today is that we be found faithful.  There's a song called "Find Us Faithful" that talks about this concept......that all who come behind us find us faithful........that the fire of our devotion light their way......that the footprints that we leave lead them to believe.  I'm thankful today for the women who went before me who were found faithful, who left those kind of footprints.  I'm prayerful today that I will be found faithful, that the fire of my devotion will light the way for those who come behind me.  I'm prayerful that I will love the Lord with ALL my heart and soul and mind.....that my love will be evidenced in my behavior.....that I will leave for my sons and my "daughters" and my grandsons and all who follow behind me a legacy of that kind of devotion......that I will teach that diligently to my children and my grandchildren.....that my sons and "daughters" will teach those things diligently to their children.  I'm celebrating today what God will do in and through us when we commit ourselves completely to Him.

And I am so thankful that I had a Mother and a Grandmother who modeled that kind of love and devotion.

What are you celebrating today?  What are your thankful for today?  If your Mother is still here, tell her you today - and every chance you get - that you love her.  It will make her day!