On this Mother’s Day, I give thanks for all those loving
mothers and the selfless, unconditional love they offer their children. For those lucky enough to be blessed with a
loving parent, it is truly a gift from God to be nurtured in a loving
environment, one we often take for granted.
But more than that, our own experiences of a loving parent help us to
understand the unbelievable love of our Heavenly Parent, who loves us more than
anything and wants so much to be close to us.
One of my strongest memories of my own mother is from Christmas.
I remember it clearly. When I was about 8, I would get up so early that often the sun had yet to rise, and I would sneak out to the living room to look and see what Santa had brought. As children, we were allowed to open the small presents in our stocking, but had to wait for the rest of the family before opening up the other presents. I would thoroughly look over all the presents, delicately scanning them all to see if any gifts could be deduced. There were always things that I really wanted, and I would always hunt for those special gifts.
Since I was the youngest and my sisters were 5 and 7 years older than I, the Christmas morning gift exchange was not as important to my sisters—they were teenagers, and even Christmas morning couldn’t get them out of bed. But I was persistent, and I nagged, and I did my share of making loud noises to “encourage” them to get up. And finally, all dressed in our pajamas and sweat pants, we would circle the tree (my parents both having full cups of coffee) and begin the gift exchange. And that was when the magic came, and when I witnessed the spirit of God.
One of my strongest memories of my own mother is from Christmas.
I remember it clearly. When I was about 8, I would get up so early that often the sun had yet to rise, and I would sneak out to the living room to look and see what Santa had brought. As children, we were allowed to open the small presents in our stocking, but had to wait for the rest of the family before opening up the other presents. I would thoroughly look over all the presents, delicately scanning them all to see if any gifts could be deduced. There were always things that I really wanted, and I would always hunt for those special gifts.
Since I was the youngest and my sisters were 5 and 7 years older than I, the Christmas morning gift exchange was not as important to my sisters—they were teenagers, and even Christmas morning couldn’t get them out of bed. But I was persistent, and I nagged, and I did my share of making loud noises to “encourage” them to get up. And finally, all dressed in our pajamas and sweat pants, we would circle the tree (my parents both having full cups of coffee) and begin the gift exchange. And that was when the magic came, and when I witnessed the spirit of God.
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| Jan and Ben |
Although I am as much a part of our materialistic culture as
anyone is, and I admit I do like to receive gifts, what I learned those
Christmas mornings has been more of an influence in my life than anything
else. I was lucky enough, or at least
spoiled enough, to receive a number of gifts from my parents and from
Santa. Even though I remember some of the
things I got on Christmas morning, my strongest memory is of my mother. When she would give one of her children a
gift, I would watch her face. If you
could only see how her face lit up as her child opened the gift. It was beautiful—the love coming out of her,
the perfect, selfless love.
On this Mother’s Day, I pause to give thanks for the gift of love from a loving parent. But more than that, I am deeply thankful for the lessons of love which taught me about the great and wondrous love of my Heavenly Mother.
Many have asked for an update on Jan. Jan is doing absolutely wonderful with her fight with cancer. The girl has it beat! The markers in her blood for cancer were in the 450s the day of her surgery. After her surgery they went down to the 50s, and then with the heavy-dose regiment of chemo, her latest number was a 3!!! Praise God! The doctor said he’s never seen lower than a 2. Not only is the chemo working, but Jan is tolerating it like a champ. She seldom has nausea, no mouth sores, and is still very active. She does get a bit tired, but with some naps during the day, she is fine. We are thankful she was able to take off this semester of teaching, for we believe it has been a tremendous help, giving Jan time to rest and recuperate and heal. Thanks for all the prayers! They have been working! Jan has one more treatment left, and then in a few weeks a scan and doctor visit. Please join us as we pray that Jan will be completely cancer free!
On this Mother’s Day, I pause to give thanks for the gift of love from a loving parent. But more than that, I am deeply thankful for the lessons of love which taught me about the great and wondrous love of my Heavenly Mother.
Many have asked for an update on Jan. Jan is doing absolutely wonderful with her fight with cancer. The girl has it beat! The markers in her blood for cancer were in the 450s the day of her surgery. After her surgery they went down to the 50s, and then with the heavy-dose regiment of chemo, her latest number was a 3!!! Praise God! The doctor said he’s never seen lower than a 2. Not only is the chemo working, but Jan is tolerating it like a champ. She seldom has nausea, no mouth sores, and is still very active. She does get a bit tired, but with some naps during the day, she is fine. We are thankful she was able to take off this semester of teaching, for we believe it has been a tremendous help, giving Jan time to rest and recuperate and heal. Thanks for all the prayers! They have been working! Jan has one more treatment left, and then in a few weeks a scan and doctor visit. Please join us as we pray that Jan will be completely cancer free!
Ron Trimmer is pastor of Hope United, a new church in Georgetown, Texas. Click here to visit Hope United’s website.
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