Lessons From My Mother

With Mother’s Day coming up soon it seems like a good time to share with you a little about my lovely and Godly mother. It seems especially fitting today as she is currently having surgery to remove cancer from her leg. Prayers for her would be appreciated. Let’s talk about some lessons that I have learned from my mother….

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

She loves God and seeks to obey His word.

If you are around my Mom for long you will notice that her life centers around following Jesus. Going to church, spending time in prayer and Bible study are a very regular part of her week. But beyond even that it is the foundation of her life, the thing that affects all the decisions she makes. Her relationship with God determines how she responds to situations. Such as finding out that she has cancer and even at that point it seemed like it quite possibly could have metastasized (it doesn’t seem like it did – but it seemed likely at the time) – her response wasn’t one or worry or fear. It was one of trust, knowing that our good God has everything in His control. The same response happened when my Dad had an aggressive cancer when I was a teenager.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

She is thankful!

My parents (this post is about my Mom, but by and large it is about my parents) have made it a practice to give thanks whatever the situation. To look for things to be thankful for. To encourage us kids and others to practice thankfulness.

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:11 & 12

She loves my Dad.

My parents are a team that deeply love one another. There was never any question of that in our home growing up. I never heard a fight (yes of course some tense words from time to time and disagreements but nothing that ever got heated) and know I was incredibly blessed in that. Now as they go through their older years they are a team that does everything together. Dad runs a sharpening shop – Mom does his books and deals with a lot of costumers. They clean the church building together, they help others together, they garden together and so forth. I don’t think every couple needs to be as inseparable all the time as they are but it is a great example of how you can live and minister together.

She extends her hand to the poor, and she stretches out her hands to the needy.

Proverbs 31:20

She is generous and hospitable

Mom is constantly giving. It might be eggs from their chickens, or produce from their garden, or money because she sees a need. If she sees a need for clothes she’ll start looking through her closets or when out shopping. If she sees a household need at my house it is quite possible there will be a new rubber spatula or sponge or whatever it is tucked in with my eggs the next time. She is generous with family but it goes far beyond that.

Hospitality is also something that I truly learned from my Mom. The doors to our home were pretty wide open (figuratively). Church family and friends came over regularly but also many strangers – exchange students and international students from the university were a big part of that but the homeless have also been hosted by my parents. Hospitality might just be for a meal or it might be that you are staying for the summer (or beyond). She has had many opportunities to share the gospel through hospitality.

She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

Proverbs 31:17

She is a hard worker

My mom seems to love to work hard. She is a dish washer extraordinaire. Whether she is at her place, the church building, my place, anybody’s place you will find her doing whatever she can to help out. And she is really good at seeing needs and doing what she can to help.

Funny story, one day after church a bunch of us decided to go out to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken (which by the way is super unusual, my mom does not care much at all for going out to eat). When we got there we discovered a line and any open tables were very messy. It was obvious that there just wasn’t enough staff for the amount of customers they were dealing with. And now we were adding around 20 more. But my Dad loves Kentucky Fried Chicken as do others in our party so we decided to stay. What does Mom do? She sweetly asks an employee “Do you have a rag to use to wash the tables and a broom? So then Mom proceeds to clean the dining room while we wait for food. It needed to be done so she did it and I think everybody was happier because of it.

Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying; Many daughter have done nobly, but you excel them all.

Proverbs 31:28 & 29

Happy Mother’s Day!

Peter, Anna, Martha, Luke, Keren and I are very blessed to have Bonnie Williams for our mom. She homeschooled us, modeled following Jesus to us, told us to stand up straight, hold our stomachs in, enunciate our words, make our beds, look up a word if you don’t know how to spell it or know what it means, and so much more. I am so thankful to have an example like her. Thanks for letting me share with you some of the lessons from my Mother!

Whatever sort of Mother you have I hope you are able to see some things you have learned from her and thank God for her. If you are a Mother I hope this makes you think: “What sort of lessons am I teaching to my children?” I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day!