Thank you, Mother....

Mothers...
My mother...
My memories...

Yes, my mother has been home for twenty years...I'll bet she smiles because in Heaven twenty years is like a few hours.  I know she is having the time of her life.

You see before her home-going she said to me, "Darnly, I wish I could tell you that when I get to Heaven, I will think about you.  But I don't think so...It will just be about Jesus."

I still cry when I remember the look on her face that day...the anticipation, the love, the glory. Finally after a life of hard work and living she was going to see Jesus soon!! And she could hardly wait. The song she wanted at her funeral, "Victory in Jesus" truly was her mantra.

I thank God for her love of us, each one of her eight children, and for her love of her Savior. Those two loves of her life shaped what she did and how she did it.

[The picture is of my parents on their wedding day, January 20, 1944.  Dad had just come home from the South Pacific where he had served in the US Marine Corp., second division]

She may have been tough as nails...she probably had to be in order to be heard since she was only 4 feet 10 inches tall; but she was would do anything for anyone in need.

She was "green" before anyone knew what "green" really meant. Lights were meant to turn off, and water was precious, not to be wasted. New clothes were a waste of money, and cookies were rationed one at a time. Kleenex were used like hankerchiefs, paper towels were only used to drain the grease off her delicious raised doughnuts, and disposable diapers were sinful. My dad still says that her frugality and wise use of everything made him rich.

Thank you Mommy for:

*My name...Darnly.  I get to tell people about you because they want to know where the name came from and I tell them FROM YOU. (click to read more)

*Making traditions for us to remember like the hot dog roasts in the back yard July 4th, the birthday cakes for each birthday with every single child blowing out those candles each time (germs were immaterial), and those wonderful Christmas mornings.

*Being tough on me...you taught me to work hard and do my best in everything I did.

*Giving me a well rounded introduction to work...every skill has come in handy at some point in my life.:
      Taking care of the chickens,
     Working in the garden,
      Babysitting little brothers and sisters...changing all those diapers,
      Cleaning the house,
      Hanging clothes on the clothesline...I remember lots of diapers,
      Churning butter that took forever,
      Ironing baskets of clothes,
      Cooking for 10,
      Sewing doll clothes and then my own,
      Helping with the milkings,
     Being kind to neighbors.

Thanks, Mom, for listening.  You were always there sitting at your sewing machine, or at the table each day when we got home from school to listen to the good and the bad.  Your common sense made the problems seem much smaller..

Thanks, Mom, for all the help with homework through those hard high school classes...geometry, bookkeeping, chemistry...the ones you never took since you only got to go through eighth grade.  I realized years later that you actually went through all those classes eight times by the time the last of us graduated.  By then you were pretty "smart."

Thanks, Mom, for continuing to listen as the years went on. You were always interested in what was going on with us, with my children, with my life, and you could always put problems in perspective..."been there, done that."

Thanks, Mom, for coming to help when I needed you...after Greg was born...after Larry was hurt and Jeff was about to be born.  You knew more about taking care of babies than anyone I know.  You were also really good at cleaning out the refrigerator.  I could use your help now if you don't have anything else to do....

Mom, I thank God for you.  I thank Him for the love He gave you for children, the common sense He gave you for guiding them, the skills He gave you to run a home filled with lots of them.

Thanks Mom, I miss you....

And for you, here is your favorite hymn....mine too:

"Victory In Jesus"