Today my dear Mother is 91 years young! She stills lives by herself - not that any of her 4 kids are happy about that but she loves her independence. And even though she has been through many tough times during her life she still maintains an upbeat, happy and positive attitude. She has fought through a heart attack, open heart surgery, diabetes, double leg amputation, and many more physical problems but even in a wheelchair she gets around and tries to make it to church whenever she can. My Mom has had a tough road through life to make it this far but she taught all of us kids how to live a Christian life and becomes productive citizens. She and my Dad had 2 sons (born in 1939 & 1942) and then a surprise daughter – me – almost 20 years later! Then they adopted my little sister in 1967! So my siblings range in age from 71 to 43! Mom has11 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren! I’m so proud of her and love her so much and I am so blessed to still have her in my life!
Here is a scrapbook layout that I made in her honor. It’s called “A Warrior’s Lessons of Love”.
This layout shows photos of my Mom at different stages of her life and the lessons I learned. I printed a beautiful poem on a transparency and placed it over a photo of my Mom after her amputation. Here is the poem:
This morning my thoughts traveled along
To a place in my life where days have long since gone.
Beholding an image of what I use to be
As visions were stirred, and God spoke to me.
He showed me a warrior, a soldier in place,
Positioned by Heaven, yet I saw not the face.
I watched as the warrior fought enemies
They came from the darkness with destruction for me.
I saw as the warrior would dry away tears
As all of Heaven’s angels hovered so near.
I saw many wounds on the warriors face,
Yet weapons if warfare were firmly in place.
I felt my heart weeping, my eyes held so much,
As God let me feel the warrior’s prayer touched.
I thought, “How familiar”, the words that were prayed,
The prayers were like lightening that never would fade.
I said to God, “Please, the warrior’s name.”
He gave me no reply, He choose to refrain.
I asked, “Lord, who is so broken that they need so much prayer?”
He showed me an image of myself standing there.
Bound by confusion, lost and alone,
I felt prayers of the warrior carry me home.
I asked, “Please show me Lord, this Warrior so true”
I watched and I wept, For Mother, the warrior was you!
Journaling:
My mom has always stood by my side, stood up for me, and many, many times she has stood behind me and held me up. I’d like to think of her as a “Gentle Warrior” ~ a woman who has always remained strong and determined through the many trials in her long and sometimes difficult life (trials whose weight a lot of today’s young women, including myself, would buckle under) but also showing her very kind, gentle, and compassionate side while dishing out infinite amounts of affection, life lessons, and good moral values along with loving discipline.
Now that I am an adult and married with children of my own, I realize just how many of these lessons she taught me not only verbally but by example. As I watched her experience many hard times, make numerous life decisions that were sometimes difficult, and make many personal sacrifices for her family, I learned many lessons that have expanded my heart and have allowed me to love my family and my life more deeply and profoundly. I love my mom so much… she is my hero… and I hope to be just like her when I finally grow up!
With each experience that my mom has gone through in the past, and continues to go through, she teaches me a new Lesson of Love!
Sorry about the poor picture quality! It’s much nicer IRL! It actually won first place at the Great American Scrapbook Convention! Thanks for looking and helping me celebrate my Moms special day!
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Until next time, Happy Crafting,
!) I then filled the can (from the bottom) with candy. Mine is filled with Tootsie Pops – my favorite choice of candy at the moment – but it can be filled with a variety of goodies.
