Of My Mother
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 31:10-31

Today’s Treasure:
“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’ Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Proverbs 31: 28-31).

I have a mom who has been on the cover of magazines, has sold out arenas with her conferences, has a Sunday school class bigger than most Southern Baptist churches, and has even been invited to the White House. She’s a world traveler, a poet, and an author of so many books that I’ve lost count. She always looks like she just jumped out of the pages of an Ann Taylor catalog. If you saw her in the airport, you’d know she was someone special just because of her glowing face. You might think she acquired the glow from a facial, a chemical peel, or even a Dead Sea mud mask, but let me tell you a secret. Her face glows because she’s been with the Lord. Well, her Estee Lauder double wear foundation in the shade of wheat doesn’t hurt too much.

But let me really tell you about my mommy. She and I walk that fine line of being mother and daughter and best friends. We would rather be together with family than do anything else. Although, you can bet that our first choice is to be eating chips and salsa together or watching great movies like “Ann of Green Gables” and “Steel Magnolias.” Who says you can’t do both?

My mom let Melissa and me stay home from school every now and then so we could hang out together, usually at the mall. We had to physically restrain her from going into stores and demanding they use a mannequin the size of a normal person. “It’s the figure of a nine-year-old! A nine-year-old!” she said. Please don’t get her started on her sermon about Victoria’s Secret mints.

She’s a champion for justice tempered with mercy and a lover of the unlovely. She would never let us get away with thinking we were smarter, more righteous, or more deserving than anyone else. Mom always stressed the importance of honoring those who serve us. By this I mean tipping big. If you don’t have money to tip, you shouldn’t order the pizza. After all, our family was in the service business, plumbing to be exact, and she said there was dignity and honor in serving others no matter what.
I used to love listening to Mom talk on the telephone. I paid close attention to the way she listened to people and shared her wisdom with them. If I ever say or write anything intelligent, it’s probably something I overheard heard my mom say through the years.

Lest you think my mom can’t possibly have every quality of the Proverbs 31 woman, I assure you she does. Let me tell you about dinnertime at the Moore home. Picture these things with me. Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic toast, a tender roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, spinach salted to perfection, cornbread dressing that’s even better than Nanny’s, chicken and dumplings. Did I mention mashed potatoes? I almost forgot dessert! Texas sheet cake that will put five pounds on you in two days cause you’ll eat so much of it. Pound cake that will be gone in an hour. Fruit pizza for the girl scout troop, sugar cookies with icing for Christmas, and always a cookie cake for the volleyball team. And when she didn’t feel like cooking, we got to have Chik-fil-a or Chinese food for dinner. What more could you ask for?

I never woke up to an alarm clock until I went to college. Every morning I would hear my door open and a sweet voice would say, “Good morning, little sweetie, it’s time to wake up. I made some cinnamon toast for you.” I would make my way downstairs and find mom in the best mood. She had already been awake for more than an hour, spending time with the Lord and covering her family in prayer. The family altar was waiting for us to come down and write our prayer requests so we could pray for each other that day.
If I had to pick my favorite thing about Mom, I couldn’t. But I especially cherish her sense of humor and her appreciation for words. They often coincide in a terribly corny joke or pun, but when she laughs at herself I just have to laugh, too. Just in case you’ve ever heard my mother speak from the stage, you should know that she really does have more than one volume. She can also speak in different voices. I’ve never tried to count how many she has, but if you were a fly on the wall in the Moore house, you would hear all kinds of things that would amaze and entertain you. Mom is usually at the center of the fun and games. She’ll do anything to make us laugh.

That reminds me of how ruthless she is when it comes to kids. She doesn’t even have grandkids yet! She will stop at no length to be a child’s favorite person. I have seen her wear cups on her ears for extended lengths of time, in public, to bond with a child. Also, I want you to imagine my mother speed-skipping through Six Flags Astroworld with a little girl, without a thought in the world of who cared or stared.

This is the essence of my mother. She loves to no end, just like Jesus. She will go to any length to love someone, especially her family. She will humiliate herself, she will be tough if necessary, and she will love without thinking of herself. That’s the kind of woman, the kind of mother she is. Take away the speaker, the writer, and the Sunday school teacher, and you have a woman who is the best mommy anyone could have. I am so proud of her. My sister and I would both tell you that as good as she is at all those other things, she is even better at being our mom. If not another book were sold, if one day no one showed up at the conferences, if she stopped looking like an Ann Taylor model, it wouldn’t change my respect, admiration, and love for her one bit. Do I want to be a speaker like Beth Moore one day? Well, that’s not really me. Do I want to be a mother like her one day? More than anything. I love you, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

Lord, I thank you for all the women you created who are mothers. What a wonderful thing to be! God, you have blessed me with such a wonderful mom and I’m so thankful. Praise you that children don’t need their moms to be Bible teachers, they need their moms to love and walk humbly with you. I pray that you would esteem these women through your love and through the love and praise of their families. Lord, in the name of Jesus, please bless them with an extra measure of your joy and patience this Mother’s Day and beyond. Amen.