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Pastor's Pen
Stay up to date on the life of our church with Pastor Gary Turk's blog, updated monthly. His blog features devotional reflections, reports, observations, and more!Motherhood
A Mother's Day Tribute To My Mother
21 May 2010 / 07:49 AM
As I approach Mother’s Day this year I am aware that for the first time in my life I will not be able to celebrate that day with my mother. It has always been a day to spend time with her, to share a meal and express my love to her. But, as the Lord has called her home, we will not be able to do that this year. Nevertheless, I do celebrate her life and the mother she has been to me.
As I reflect on her life I am reminded of the words the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (II Timothy 1:5 NIV). Eugene Peterson, in The Message, put it this way, “what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you!”
My mother was a woman of great faith, a faith that she passed on to her children. From the time I was just a baby my mother would take us to SUnday School and worship every week. That included Sunday evening services and mid-week prayer meetings. Her life, and thus ours, was very much built around the church and her faith in God. She would read the Bible or Bible stories to us and pray with us. She would help us discern right from wrong and always instruct us to live our lives in a godly way. Life was always lived in the context of serving and pleasing Jesus Christ.
My mother loved to sing and often sang solos in church. But whether at church or at home she was always singing of the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. It was just one more way that she passed on her faith to her children, as well as a love for music, especially the deep heart-felt faith music of the church.
She was also a woman o prayer. Her prayer ministry included churches, missionaries, the sick and infirmed, and, of course, her family. She prayed daily for our dad and his ministry. She prayed for each of her children, and as the years went by that included her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through the years I have known that the prayers of my mother were always being lifted up before the throne of grace for me and my ministry. My mother was always interceding on my behalf. That is an example I have always tried to emulate.
In more recent years I have had the privilege to give back in some small way as I became her pastor. I have been able to share with her the faith that first lived in her and she had passed on to me. If, in any way, I stand in the line of Timothy, it is because of the faith that first lived in her and that she has passed on to me.
Yes, this Mother’s Day will be different and I will miss being able to share it with her. Yet, the deep faith that she has handed down through the life she lived, her love, her words, her deeds, is as rich a memory that one can ever have to treasure. Thanks be to God!
As I reflect on her life I am reminded of the words the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (II Timothy 1:5 NIV). Eugene Peterson, in The Message, put it this way, “what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you!”
My mother was a woman of great faith, a faith that she passed on to her children. From the time I was just a baby my mother would take us to SUnday School and worship every week. That included Sunday evening services and mid-week prayer meetings. Her life, and thus ours, was very much built around the church and her faith in God. She would read the Bible or Bible stories to us and pray with us. She would help us discern right from wrong and always instruct us to live our lives in a godly way. Life was always lived in the context of serving and pleasing Jesus Christ.
My mother loved to sing and often sang solos in church. But whether at church or at home she was always singing of the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. It was just one more way that she passed on her faith to her children, as well as a love for music, especially the deep heart-felt faith music of the church.
She was also a woman o prayer. Her prayer ministry included churches, missionaries, the sick and infirmed, and, of course, her family. She prayed daily for our dad and his ministry. She prayed for each of her children, and as the years went by that included her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through the years I have known that the prayers of my mother were always being lifted up before the throne of grace for me and my ministry. My mother was always interceding on my behalf. That is an example I have always tried to emulate.
In more recent years I have had the privilege to give back in some small way as I became her pastor. I have been able to share with her the faith that first lived in her and she had passed on to me. If, in any way, I stand in the line of Timothy, it is because of the faith that first lived in her and that she has passed on to me.
Yes, this Mother’s Day will be different and I will miss being able to share it with her. Yet, the deep faith that she has handed down through the life she lived, her love, her words, her deeds, is as rich a memory that one can ever have to treasure. Thanks be to God!