#1---- I Thank God For My Family

Today I am most thankful for my family!

I will start with my parents.

My parents with their six grandchildren. (Dad now has
 dementia which explains why his eyes are closed.)

If you would have asked me in 1985 what I thought about my parents you would have received the typical teenage answer, "I have the worst parents ever!" Yet since I have become a parent myself, and now a parent of teenagers, my opinions of my own parents have drastically changed, as most of my siblings would agree.

We weren't always privileged to have everything we wanted, nor did we vacation at luxurious resorts or dine in Maryland's finest restaurants. We sometimes had had to walk to school or take the bus in those winter snowy cold months while others were chauffeured. It was required we eat dinner as a family most evenings and we looked forward to those rare occasions when Mom would talk my Father into taking us to dinner after church on Sundays.  We never took our cars through a car wash, Dad taught us how to fill the bucket up with dish soap, grab the garden hose and wash it in the yard. We were sure to finish the final task of white-walling the tires and checking the oil stick.

It was expected that we secured part-time jobs at sixteen to pay for the unnecessary expenses of our teenage lives but we still had to keep up our chores around the home. I reminisce at my mother's response when I (the eldest of her children) one day asked her why we were the only family in the neighborhood who didn't have a dishwasher. Her response, "I have three of them, Polly, Shelley and Erik". She sure got her monies worth from those dishwashers.

Yet what I did have was a mother and father who worked diligently at keeping a roof over our heads, clothes on our bodies, shoes on our feet. I had a Mom who never (in the entire time I lived at home) treated herself to a manicure or pedicure but instead put the money aside to take us to the Zoo, or the Ice Capades, or down the street for a Kold Kiss snowball.

Yearly family vacations were a must, planned months in advance to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Deep Creek Lake or Chincoteague Virginia. Every year prior to our trip Mom would spend a few nights without sleep, preparing the food, bedding, clothes and all the other necessities needed to enjoy the vacation. We always had room for others to come with us and she made sure they were each treated like family.

Our home wasn't the fanciest, the front door was sometimes missing some paint and the back door squeaked when you closed it. Cold air drifted through the windows on those cold snowy nights, the carpet had a few stains and the furniture was usually outdated, scratched and torn. But inside everyone and anyone was welcome! It didn't matter your skin color, black, brown, red, pink, yellow or white, Mom sat you at the table, fed you and loved you!

Most importantly Dad and Mom raised us to fear the Lord, to abstain from sin, to honor God with our first fruits and to assemble together with like believers to worship our Lord. They lived it in front of us, not at all perfect lives, but committed to a PERFECT SAVIOR who could and would provide so much more than we could ever imagine. Thank you Dad & Mom for your commitment to the Lord, the unconditional love you have bestowed upon me and now my family and the continuous support you have given all the days of my life! I love you both.

I love this man!

Skipping forward a few years - I am very thankful for my husband: 


When I met my soul-mate at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. tall, dark and handsome were some of the first traits that caught my eye, but later I found most attractive was his love and commitment to the Lord. It has proven to be his greatest source of strength as he leads our family and still NOTHING is more attractive to me even twenty-three years later after our first date. I am blessed by his guidance when sometimes I can't find my way, I have been comforted by his forgiveness when I often didn't deserve it, I am amused by his company that never seems to get old and I am confident and secure in his faithful love. He soooooo completes me and for that I am eternally grateful to God, for this man I call my husband.

Finally, I thank God for my children. Only a mother can describe what it feels like to have a "part of you" walking around on the outside of your body. It's been my greatest gift thus far, to be their mother. My children keep me honest, they keep me busy, they keep me learning. They keep me amazed, they keep me humbled and they keep me tired. They keep me happy, they keep me motivated and giggling on the inside. They keep me grateful, they keep me loved and on my knees in prayer. The joys of motherhood can not be accurately expressed in words, its love in it's greatest form!

I love you both so much!

Noah and Karson I am so blessed to be your mother. I can not imagine life without you both. Your sweet smiles brighten my worst day, your voices I could detect in a crowded room of hundreds, it's music to my ears. Your hugs motivate me and on some occasions they have melted away my deepest pain. Your talents and gifts amaze me and I look forward to seeing how God will use you in the future. I, along with your Dad, will always be your biggest cheerleader. Don't every forget how much you are loved...

I love you!!!! --- Love, Mom