Happy mother's and mothering day

For this year I'm changing Sunday to Mother's and Mothering day. While I must give complete tribute to my Mom (Mommy, hear me!, you're number 1 !!) I also want to honor those others who "mothered" me along the way. Mothering is defined as the nurturing and raising of a child. For sure, "a whole is the sum of all its parts". Meaning, we are what we are because of all who mothered us along the way. For me, these five come to mind:

1. a grandma who helped raise me, influence me, and teach me a lot about giving due respect to those who deserve it. Her lessons live with me daily.

2. an aunt who was ALWAYS kind. Whether it was a piece of gum everytime I walked up to her house, letting me spend the night and sleep on a pallet on the floor, or not totally killing me when I broke one of her 25th Wedding anniversary gifts, she always treated this "Amy Gail" right.

3. a mother-in-law who taught me that we could both love her son to the end of the earth. Having someone you know you can totally count on is a gift from God. Her selflessness is a lesson she could teach a course on.

4. an aunt-in-law who first endeared me when she gave me a gift on my first visit to the Walker Christmas. She would go on to show such commitment to helping us with our house. (A debt I could hardly repay). She even let my baby be her "honorary" grandbaby. And, to me,a true friend that I know I can turn to for sound advice.

5. a dear friend I used to work with who always "chose" to be happy. She nurtured me spiritually in a pivotal time in my life. She led by example, through her vast knowledge of the scripture and through her genuine love for the Lord and his people. She doesn't even know how much she influenced me.

And to my Mommy...who else has a Mom who dipped snuff and rolled houses with toilet paper with her girls? Who else has a Mom who owned a clown suit and used it regularly? Who else has a Mom who, in the seventh inning of a very close game, offered to have a cook-out for Chuck's whole baseball team if they would beat Methodist? (They won and we did).

May I learn from my Mommy and all those who mothered me.