My Mother, My Friend

In the last year, something happened to make me understand and appreciate my mother even more than I had before.

I got married.

I have been gradually learning, as I've gotten older, to appreciate what my mom has done for me.  She has fed me, cleaned my clothes, cleaned the house I lived in, provided a large amount of my education, taught me about taking care of a home, and most importantly, taught me about Jesus and how much he loves me.  She has witnessed her faith in every aspect of her life and has encouraged me to do the same.

But in this last year I've come to appreciate my mother's role as a wife much more than I ever have, now that I can understand it better.  I can see how much she supports my dad in his work.  She always has the house clean when he comes home in the evenings.  She provides delicious, healthful meals to nurture his body physically.  She supported him in his role as spiritual head of the house, and respected his authority in every way.  When she said or did something that hurt him, I remember her being very sad and later apologizing both to my dad and to my siblings and me for disrespecting our father.  She encouraged us to always look up to and respect him.  I love my dad a lot, partly because of how much I can see my mom loves him.  She dresses attractively for him.  She plans special dates for the two of them.  She brags about him to her friends. She never speaks ill of him or puts him down in public, or for that matter, hardly ever at all.

Now, my parents aren't perfect by any means.  I know they have arguments.  I know there are times when they don't love or respect one another.  I know there are times when my mom tries to take control of things instead of letting my dad do his job in that.

But they have constantly exhibited to me what it means to have a Christian marriage.  My mom is a daily example of how to live as a wife who honors God and honors her husband.  I know how hard that can be sometimes, so I respect her all the more for doing it so well so much of the time.

Now that I better understand this part of my mom, I feel that she and I have so much more in common.  We can talk on an equal level about being wives and homemakers.  Now, not only is she my mother, but she has become one of my best friends.  I can talk to her about so many things.  I can ask her for advice on anything.  We can have fun together, support each other in our marriages, and encourage one another in our homemaking.

I still have so much to learn.  There is so much my mother has to teach me.  But from here on out, our relationship will be more than that of mother and daughter--it is that of two friends and sisters in Christ.

Mom, thank you for everything you've ever done for me.  Thank you for setting an example for me of how a Christian wife, mother and homemaker should live.  Thank you for always being there for me, and thank you for being my friend.  I love you so much!!

To all of the mothers out there--

You are incredible.

Happy Mothers' Day!