So we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
1 Thessalonians 2:8
Today on this Mother’s Day, I want to celebrate the women who mothered me. I have three that come to mind. I am so very grateful for these spiritual mothers; I would not be the woman I am today without these women.
The first, DiAnna, didn’t give me life, but she helped keep me alive….she’s my first long term example of unconditional love. I often say that she is the human reason that I’m still alive. DiAnna showed me that I could be loved. I never felt “really” loved before that. She first began loving me when I was in the early stages of my addictions in my teen years…..her home was the first place I ever felt safe. A place I knew I would always be nurtured and loved.
Before the Word became my plumb line; DiAnna was my plumb line. It’s a fact that knowing she’d be disappointed kept me from making some really bad choices….not that I didn’t make plenty as it was. Thirty years this woman has prayed for me. Thirty years this woman has loved me like Jesus does. She has never turned her back on me. Not in my drunkenness, not in my sin, not in my pain. Not once did she not answer the phone or the door….never knowing what shape I would be in, but I was always welcome. She taught me things I would never have learned otherwise….probably the one I’m most grateful for….how to be a godly wife. DiAnna is an amazing wife. She taught me that it’s important to make my husband a priority. She taught me that it’s important to greet my husband when he walks in the door. She taught me that respect is important, a good meal, a tidy home and clean clothes neatly folded and put away. She taught me grace and forgiveness is needed. I don’t know if we ever talked about those things but she has modeled them for me for 30 years. She has modeled other things too, studying the Word, wisdom, reverence, humility and serving her church while faithfully attending. Basically she taught me how to be a good human….how to be a godly woman.
My long time recovery sponsor, Sally, also mothered me. She gave me a safe place to heal from the pain. She loved me and reassured me that I was ok even though I didn’t know it yet. She opened her home to me and it too was a safe haven. She taught me how to demonstrate grace in really difficult circumstances. She taught me what true recovery meant, not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. She taught me that prayer was always the first course of action. She taught me how to have sober fun, to laugh and have a good time.
She taught me how to mentor women in pain, to come alongside and be present and available. She enveloped me in love the night I chose to forgive my dad as I allowed her to cradle me like a child and hold me as I sobbed. That’s as vulnerable as I had ever allowed myself to be and she had made it safe for me to do that. She made it safe to begin my transparency journey.
The other woman who comes to mind is Joy. She too has impacted my life in an amazing way. Joy was one of the ladies who gave me the gift of loving me knowing all….even the ugliest of my sin. Jesus used this love to help bring me tremendous freedom from shame. She’s been my accountability partner for the past several years. She knows my struggles, my current sin and she loves me through it all. Joy isn’t afraid to get into the messy. When my husband and I were going through an extremely painful season simultaneously as my momma’ s heart was breaking for my son, Joy came alongside me and held my arms up like they did for Moses back in Exodus.
She has helped me learn how to be a godly wife too. She’s spent hours providing wise counsel and teaching me about healthy marriages. She counsels, she prays, she comforts. Joy was there last year when I had surgery. I’m not sure I ever told her how much that meant to me that she would take off work for me.
The picture I chose for this blog is called “The rescue”, these women were who Jesus used to rescue me. These women helped pull me out of the pit. These women have mothered me. They’ve parented me in godliness. They have helped Jesus mold me into the woman I am today. These women….they chose me to love…so I know I’m special to them. I just hope they know how important they are to me. I am so grateful God knew I needed them to love me. That He sent these women to be Jesus with skin on. Thank you beautiful mothers; I love you. đź’ś
Guide older women into lives of reverence…so they end up as models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. Titus 2 Msg
