I asked my mother, “What are some rough roads that you have been down?”
She replied, “The first was of your brother, the oldest, who was in military service during Viet Nam. I never knew until I talked with her that she simply prayed that he would not go to Viet Nam and he did stay in our country from 1966 to 1968.
Next, she spoke of me. I had a serious head injury at the age of twelve. She was only allowed brief visits with me in ICU each hour. The door was cracked so she would just stand there and peek in. I awakened after thirteen hours so the neurosurgeon said of me, “He’s a lucky little boy”.
Finally, she spoke of my sister. She had what was believed to be a benign bone tumor. But after it was removed it was discovered that the tumor was a malignant tumor surrounded by a benign tumor. The day we found out mother stayed awake all night crying and praying. Now she believes God placed on her mind what she would ask the physician to accomplish—phone John Hopkins University, the Mayo Clinic and other hospitals across the nation to see if any had successfully dealt with this type of cancer. The physician did so and my sister cancer was successfully removed.
I asked mother, “How did God help you deal with all this?”
She answered, “He just saw me through it.” And then specifically when I asked about my brother being in military service she said a layperson at church would constantly remind her to put her faith in God who takes care of us regardless of what happens. And our father, who had been in service in World War II, would keep reminding her that my brother would be all right (although she said that by his facial expressions she knew he was worried too). While I was in ICU she just said our pastor and a layperson from our church stayed together with my parents and prayed all night. And when she traveled out of state with my sister for her surgery she simply had faith that her daughter would survive.
I asked Mother, “What has been God’s message for you?”
She said, “God will see me through life as he has done and regardless of what happens Jesus is always there. We have to trust him and sometimes we forget that until we need him. I need to ask each day just to get through one day at a time.”
The final question I asked mother who is a great-grandmother was, “What advice would you give to young mothers today?”
She chuckled and said, “You don’t have enough time to hear about that”.
My reply was, “Just keep in mind this is the conclusion of the Mother’s Day sermon.”
She then said, (1) Raising a child is the most important thing we will ever do; (2) Never talk down to a child but respect them because they are little people. They have feelings and they will respect you if you respect them; (3) Children need structure so have rules and be consistent with things like bedtime, meal time, etc; (4) Be proud of their accomplishments, large or small; (5) Show them and tell them that you love them; (6) When your children are with you it is the happiest and best time of your life so enjoy it for soon they will be adults; (7) “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray” (Proverbs 22:6, NRSV).
