5 Things My Momma Taught Me

My mother is wonderful. She truly is the perfect mom for me….God knew it! With Mother’s Day fast approaching I thought I would blog about five things my mom Sherry has taught me.

1. Honesty– My mother never, ever lied. I remember going to the zoo once and we had a family pass and took one of the neighbor kids with us. We suggested to my mom to lie and say he was a family member so he could get in free. She refused to lie even though it would have been so easy to do so. Instead, she paid the money for his ticket. Although that may seem like a small thing to reference, it was a memory from 27 years ago, yet I remember it as though it was yesterday. It made an imprint on me. All of the little times she refused to lie added up in my mind. My mother is a woman of great character.
2. Generosity – My mother wanted to give her children more than she ever had growing up. She sacrificed so much to make sure we had what we needed. My sister and I are 13 months apart so we both got our licenses within a year of each other. My mother finally bought herself a new car, the first new car she ever had in her life, just a few years before we were of driving age. When she saw we really needed a car to get to school and activities, she gave us her car and settled for something lesser for herself. It wasn’t until later in life where I realized how truly selfless she was in providing for her children.
3. “Mom” Does Not Mean “Friend” – My mom was always my mother and never my friend when I was under the age of 18 years old. She didn’t condone drinking, partying, rated-R movies, bad TV shows, etc. Every kid on the block knew there were standards in our house. One particular memory that I have is that she would not let us watch any show that undermined good marriage and family values. We were not allowed to watch MTV, Married With Children, or the Simpsons. Funny that all four of us children would try to sneak and watch those shows only to feel guilty when we did. Eventually, we gave up trying because it never felt right disobeying mom! And, I must tell you that now that I am an adult, my mom is still mom, but in a really special way she is my best friend! And, although I am an adult, I still don’t watch shows, listen to music, or see movies that undermine marriage and family values.
4. Conviction – One day I came home from school shocked and angry about what I saw on a video in my 7^th grade class. My teacher showed The Silent Scream, an abortion documentary. I was enraged that this was happening in America. My mom saw my anger and turned it into action by challenging me to get up early on Saturday mornings to pray outside of abortion clinics and begin researching the topic on my own to educate my peers. Little did she know this would lead into my future career as a pro-life educator.
5. Importance of Family-This can be seen by how close-knit my family is. Growing up my siblings and I were all very different, but we ate dinner together every night; we only had one TV where we all sat as a family and watched; we played board games on the weekends; and went to church on Sundays. To this day, we are all still different and still very close. Matter of fact, regardless of where everyone has moved, we all ended up coming back to live in Arizona because we want to be close to one another. I love what my brother says to my young nephews. He says, “When you make decisions in your life, you think about this family and how it will affect all of us. When you embarrass yourself, you embarrass all of us.” I see how my mom has rubbed off on him. We all share in one another’s successes and also feel the impact of poor decisions. Our family’s roots run deep.

This list of blessings my mother imparted to me could go on and on! These are just a few memories I wanted to share with you. Sherry is a woman of great character and integrity and continues to have a powerful impact on me. And, I must mention (as I have written in other blogs) after I came home from the hospital after suffering an AFE, my beautiful, amazing, wonderful mother came over eight hours a day for ninety days and took care of me and my two children. I could not have survived without my mom. When I was weak many of those days, it was her strength that gave me the will to recover!

What are five things your mother has taught you? Maybe this Mother’s Day you will have an opportunity to share with her the impact she has had in your life. If your mother is no longer here on earth, who else might you be able to share her impact with?

Mom, I’m sure you are reading this! Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks for teaching me so many great lessons that have helped shape me into who I am today! I love you more that words can say!

My beautiful Mom holding my sweet Ella a few months after she was born.