Lessons from My Mother

I was thinking yesterday about some of the things I learned from my mother.  Some of the life lessons she taught me.  In no particular order, here are a few of the things that came to mind.

For starters, I learned how to make really good macaroni and cheese.  None of that stuff  made from a boxed mix in our house!  I remember when I first asked her to show me how to make it.  She gave me directions that involved cheese and milk and butter, and of course, the macaroni.  When I asked "how much" of each, the answer was "some".  That was not a terribly helpful answer to a young girl who knew absolutely nothing about cooking!  But over the years I have found myself using a similar measuring strategy in the kitchen.  A little of this.  Some of that.  And it makes me smile and remember my mother.

Mother taught me how to properly make a bed.  How to keep house.  How to make a house a home.  And how to do it on a tight budget.

She taught me that it is possible to be well dressed on a tight budget.  That it is better to have a few really nice, classic pieces in your wardrobe than any amount of cheap, trendy pieces.  She taught me about quality vs. quantity.

She taught me to always wear clean underwear.  Don't laugh.....didn't your mother teach you that?  Because you never know when you might be in an accident!  Surely I'm not the only one who heard that.  She also taught me never to go out and leave the house in a mess.  Because you never know what might happen.  I haven't always been terribly good at remembering that lesson.

She taught me to resist peer pressure.  I have no idea how many times I heard "just because everybody else sticks their head in the fire doesn't mean you have to"!  Maybe your mother used that phrase as well.

My mother taught me to be a list-maker.  She always had a little note pad in her purse when we went shopping.  That little note pad was, in fact, always nearby, and contained a running list of items that needed to be purchased or tasks that needed to be done.  And I learned from her the delight of marking things off the list!  To this day, I love marking off a list.  In fact, if I do something that wasn't on the list, I'll put it on the list just so I can mark it off!  Yes, I do realize that's just a wee bit obsessive!  (And I think my mother did the same thing!!)

I learned the value of good grammar and good manners. Those will take you a long way, she said.

I learned to take care of my skin.  Although I balked at this in my junior high years (what was the point, I often asked!), now that I have "matured", I am really thankful that she taught me the value of a good skin care regimen.

Mother taught, through her words and by her example, a commitment to excellence.  She believed that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.  It is worth doing right the first time.  And so she taught me to always do my best, to always give my very best effort.

I learned from both my parents the value of laughter.  I still miss the twinkle in my mother's eye and her grin when she was trying not to laugh out loud.  I remember the time she "almost laughed out loud in church".  That was back in the Fifties when we didn't do things like that!

I learned from my mother to put others' needs ahead of your own. She was one of the kindest, most unselfish people I have ever known.

And I learned that some things are just "not appropriate".  "Appropriate" was a favorite word of my mother's.  Some TV shows and movies are not appropriate.  Some books are not appropriate.  Some so-called fashion is not appropriate.  Some behavior is not appropriate.

Not for a person who belongs to Jesus.  My mother, and my daddy, and my grandmother, taught me about Jesus.  Modeled Jesus in front of me.  Lived a life that loved Jesus.  All day, every day.

That's the most important lesson.

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"Forsake not your mother's teaching."  (Proverbs 1:8b ESV)