Happy Mother's Day!

We really are blessed with angel mothers in our family. I'm so thankful for mine.
As everyone knows, we moved a lot growing up. I don't even know how many times. Sometimes it was hard, especially as a teenager. But it could have been much harder without Mom's positive attitude and trust in the Lord. She always taught us to look at each move as an adventure. And they became that way. We learned to look at difficult times as opportunities for growth, and that many of life's problems dissolve with a song, a good laugh, and a prayer.

Some of my favorite memories of childhood are of singing or laughing with Mom. I knew it would be a good day on the mornings I woke up to Mom's singing. If ever we fought or argued as children, she would hum the tune to "Love at Home," and there would be peace. I remember a recent Christmas. Dad was in Iraq. First Christmas without him. It was really hard on Mom, though she stayed strong. We got a party game as a gift, and we all played it together Christmas morning. It was such a funny game we couldn't help but laugh the whole time. We laughed till our guts hurt. Till we cried. These memories are special treasures I will keep forever.

Almost as long as I can remember, Mom always did haircuts for Dad, my brothers, and me. I remember, no matter how hard her day had been on hair cutting day, she always managed to get all five of us done. Without complaining. At night, when she was done tiling floors for the day, or grocery shopping with seven kids, or homeschooling, or whatever difficult thing she had to trudge through for the day, she'd set a chair out on the front porch and plug in the clippers.

She taught us to be just as diligent. I remeber being scared of water when I was a boy. Mom signed me up for swimming lessons. I was terified. A few weeks into it I told her I wanted to quit. She looked at me very seriously and said, "There are no quitters in our family." That was that. I learned to swim.

Abraham Lincoln said, "Everything I am or ever hope to be I owe to my angel mother." He said it right. I'm grateful for all the mothers in our family. For the unseen sacrifices they go through every day. For Grandma Jake. For my mom. And for my wife, who will one day make such sweet memories with our own children. Happy Mother's Day to all the angel mothers in our family.

wade