Just Like Me

I've written before about my sweet Momma. How we prayed and prayed and received a miracle in Decemeber 1999. How she still takes care of me when I'm sick even though I'm no longer a little girl. How she has been there for the births of all three of our babies and stayed to help for weeks each time.  How she and Dad come for numerous football games each season and how they have helped us pack, clean, and move so many times I've lost count. 

But in the past few months I've had a realization of who Mom was before she was Cookie.  Before I went to her for mothering advice. 

She was just like me.  Deep in the trenches of potty training, homework struggles, running errands, making dinner, and keeping the peace at the same time.  She wiped noses, held hands for doctors visits, and scrubbed bathtubs.  She jumped out of bed during thunder storms because she knew I'd be afraid.  She sang bedtime songs, read from The Tall Book of Make Believe, and brought me just one more drink of water.  The night before every birthday, major holiday, or first day of school she sat up late at the sewing machine working on the finishing touches for a new dress for me.  She made gifts for teachers, wrote thank you notes, and always offered a bite of cookie dough.  She rolled blond hair in pink curlers, folded towels, and joined me on countless potty stops on long road trips.  She struggled to make ends meet, have time to herself to hold onto her sanity, and keep up with friends while spending most of her time with our family.  She prayed, and waited, and hoped, and feared.  Just like me. 

Mom made room for grace in the everyday.  She taught us to serve by being a servant.  She taught us to love by loving us well.  She poured out of herself again and again.  And in doing so showed such a picture of Christ's love for us better than any Sunday school lesson ever could.

I love you Mom.  Thanks for who you are to me now and who you were to me then.  I love you and am so glad God made you my mom.  Happy Mother's Day!