For My Mum :)

I told my mom in her Mother's Day cards this year that she has been my mom for so long that I am running out of ways to tell her how wonderful she is and how thankful I am to have her as my mother so from here on out I'm just going to write "ditto" in the card :). If you know my mom, or anything about her you know that she is an amazing person...obviously if she produced a daughter like me haha, kidding! (Disclaimer: I have taken some medicine for my allergies, probably shouldn't have done that before writing this...). When I think of all the things that she has done, or all the things that she's involved with right now..it makes me tired. I don't know how she does it. I was born while she (and my dad) were in college, and she was pregnant with Jessica when she graduated. I can't imagine having a husband and small children while completing a degree. She minored in math because she took so many math classes as electives because she loves math...I just can't imagine doing that at all :). She has dealt with my sisters and I through my dad's multiple deployments, not to mention any of his various trips, TDYs, going to the fields and what have yous. Whenever I had a field trip or school party she could be counted on to be there and helping. All my friends always loved her. In fact, I was looking at my middle school year book the other day and I think there were more messages to her than to me :). She has been a coach, a Sunday School teacher, a Bible Study leader, a home school mom, score keeper, pampered chef, Salvation Army women's auxiliary something or the other, not to mention mom, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, cousin, friend...and many more I know I'm leaving out. I have never seen her flustered or freaking out about all that she has going on. She has talked me through multiple freak out sessions though. I always know that if there is no one else for me to turn to I can call my mom...she'll listen to me, and it's pretty much guaranteed she'll say something that will at least make me smile. I'm very comforted knowing that if friends let me down, I still have my mom to go to. All through my freshman year at OBU I'd get cards from her, a lot of them started out, "Well, I'm sitting at volleyball/basketball practice..." and she'd just fill me in on her day, include an encouraging word for me, and sometimes she'd stick whatever money she had in her pocket in there...$7 here, $5 there. I think those helped me survive that first year. I still get notes like that (I've noticed the money has gone missing...hmmm...), and they always seem to come at just the right moment. I remember our first year of home schooling. Originally I was going to be the only one home schooled, just for high school, but after my parents went to that conference they decided to go ahead and do that with all four of us. That first year was so crazy. I think I would have decided to go another route after that, but she stuck it out and has successfully passed two daughters on to college with Stefanie so very close. I also remember my senior year at OBU. A lot went on in our family that year. Daddy was gone, and Grandmama was living in Lawton with my mom and Stef and Hannah, because she was sick and couldn't live by herself. My mom was still her regular upbeat self that whole time. I can't think of any time I ever heard her complain. She did what she had to do, and was there for me when I had a crisis in my personal life. I know some women who don't handle there husband being gone overnight anywhere near as well as my mom handles my dad's absences. On a past blog I've posted a friend of ours from Germany quoted my mom to me, and I think that says a lot about the kind of influence she has on people. Like with my sisters, I could write about my mom all day and I still don't think I could capture all of who she is. I love her so incredibly much, and am so thankful to have her as an example of a godly woman. If you don't know her, you should because you are definitely missing out!