Letter To Mom

Mom.....
Well, another year has come and gone. you were right. The older you get, the faster time seems to go. Has it really been 33 years since you went home? In some ways, it seems like forever and then on when this day rolls around each year,it only seems like yesterday.

I remember when you went to the hospital for the last time. You walked out onto the porch and paused for a minute. Looking around for one last time. "I'm ready to go home", were the words you spoke. There was a determination in your voice that you were ready for the ultimate healing from your cancer. You amazed me through this whole battle with cancer. How you got "your house" in order before you died. Making appointments to have lunch with old friends so you could say your goodbye's. How you took time to write friends and loved ones who lived far away to let them know how much you loved them and what they meant to you. Mom, over the years , you taught me how to live. But in May of 1981, you taught me how to die. You walked out your faith to the very end.........and beyond.

I want to thank you, Mom, for everything you instilled in me. I want to thank you for making me go to church, especially when I didn't want to go. Thanks for not letting me get away with faking being asleep on Sunday nights. For rousing me up and telling me that staying home was not an option. We were going to church. You knew that Jesus was more important than Bonaza or The Wonderful World of Disney.

Thanks for Bible stories from our family Bible. I can still see those incredible painting of David and Goliath, Daniel in the lions den, and Jesus walking on the water during the storm. The pictures are etched in my mind even to this day. But the love you taught me to have for Jesus is forever etched in my heart. 

I know you were concerned about me as I was growing up. Lazy....irresponsible.....selfish.....all were a part of me. "What am I going to do with you?" came from your lips more than once. But somewhere along the line, I changed. I guess you could say I became a man. You and Dad both, i know, spent several conversations and worried nights with me as the center of conversation. I was so different from my brother. I think maybe at certain times, you both went back to check my birth certificate to see if someone had made a mistake at the hospital, and switched babies on you. I'm am and always will be your son.

Mom, so many questions I want to ask you.
"What's heaven like?" More importantly, what is Jesus like? How does His voice sound? You see, you taught me through the years about Him. In fact, you know the truth of all those lessons you shared with me. You know the truth that, today, I can only have faith to believe.

I know that when you were first married, that the doctor's told you that you would never be able to have children. Then came my brother Wayne, and  again the doctor's told you that you better enjoy him because his birth was nothing short of miraculous. Nine years later, you gave birth to me. Wayne shared with me about your desire for one of your children to become a preacher. Wayne knew that it wouldn't be him, but he told me that on the day I was born, when the nurse brought me to you for the first time. You held me in your arms and declared, "This is the one. He is going to be a preacher." Well, it came true. God called me, and after 33 years of running from Him, I said, "yes". These last 17 years have been the most incredible years of my life. Vicki and I have seen the hand of God at work in ways we never could have imagined. To say that it has been a wild ride would be an understatement. The funny part in all of this, Mom, is that I wonder what Grand Dad would think about all of this. Would he be proud of me for following in his footsteps as a preacher? 

Mom, thanks for never giving up on me.
Well, it's time for me to get Vicki up...daylight's burning.
I miss you so much, and a day doesn't go by that you aren't in my thoughts and in my heart.
I will see you soon....
I love you Mom...
Michael

God on you...
mb