Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday. It is a significant, momentous birthday; she is turning 60 (yes, I did get her permission to share her age with you)! In celebration of this event, I wanted to share some of the content from a composition that I wrote to her as one of her gifts. It was a collection of quotes that correlate to some aspect of Mom’s life. I have 8 that I want to share. I will give 4 today, and the next 4 tomorrow.
The first quote was from Rebecca St. James. In context, she was speaking of hardship and suffering. She said, “No one asks for fire. I don’t necessarily want fire in my life, but I’ve seen God use that in my family and in my life to shape me into who I am…and I thank God for that.” My mom knows about fire, heartache, and suffering. Someone said that suffering can either make you better or bitter. I submit that the fire of suffering has made Mom better.
At one point in my composition, I quoted from A.W. Tozer. In his book “The Pursuit of God” he writes, “Among the famous sayings of the Church fathers none is better than Augustine’s “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”… God made us for Himself: that is the only explanation that satisfies the heart of a thinking man.” For some, this might be a hard statement; admittedly, it may take years to realize the truth of Tozer’s words. But my mother understands this sentiment. She models that nothing beats the glorious opportunity to actually have fellowship with God.
The next quote is from Barry Allen, alias the Flash. He once said, “Everyone secretly thinks they have figured out what their life is going to be like. But what no one ever considers is that life has its own plans for you, whether you like them or not. And so you’re left with a choice: you can either embrace the change and move forward; or fight it and be left behind.” I included this one because God, in His sovereign will, knew that life was going to be turned upside-down in 2015. Mom misses my dad even to this day (and, incidentally, so do I), but she knows that ultimately, to quote a sitcom title from yesteryear, “Father knows best”.
The last quote I want to share today is from Billy Graham. I have been watching a lot of You Tube videos featuring Mr. Graham of late. One of them was from 2011. On September 14th, 2011, America was in mourning over the horrors of 9/11. Billy Graham was asked to speak at the Washington National Cathedral. He spoke words of healing and hope. At one point, he said, “My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us; and that as we trust in Him, we will know in our hearts that He will never forsake us.” This is healing balm for the hurting heart; something Mom knows about all too well.
To be continued!
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