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The Beautiful Spirit Magazine is a quarterly publication available for subscription around the world!

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A Sample Article from Spring 2009

Happy Mother’s Day: A Thank-You Letter

Dear Mom,

This will be my first Mother’s Day without you. I know it will be a sad day for me. But for you, it will be the happiest Mother’s Day you’ve ever spent, because you are spending it in the presence of the Lord. I can rejoice in that. And as I look back across the years, I can see that I have much to be thankful for.

I’m thankful that you loved me and let me know it every day. From the smallest things, like a note on the napkin you put in my lunchbox, to the big things, like the sacrifices you made to give me a Christian education, you showed your love both in words and actions. You made my salvation and spiritual growth priority number one. You faithfully took me to church, prayed for me, and taught me Bible verses and songs about Jesus from the moment I started to talk. I remember the night I sat on the couch with you and Daddy while you led me to Christ and helped me write my new spiritual birth date in my Bible. And I also remember the love and compassion in your voice whenever we’d sit out on the front steps and have those little talks about different spiritual needs in my life. However angry I might have been when we sat down for a talk or a discipline-and-prayer session, your soft answers would break my will, and I always stood up completely reassured of love and forgiveness—yours and God’s.

You chose to stay home with my sister and me and to be a full-time mom. I remember how you were there for us every day when we came home from school. Your schedule was never more important than listening to us. We’d sit and have a snack with you and talk over the events of the day. All the excitement or heartache, success or failure that the day had held came out around that kitchen table. You would offer praise or wisdom or hugs, and for the moment at least, all the wrongs in my world would be righted. I loved coming home to you.

We laughed a lot in our home. Your cheerful disposition made such a happy center for our home life. You were always ready to look on the bright side, eager to help us see the good things God was doing in every situation. You planned fun birthday parties for our friends and were quick to join in the fun yourself. You loved to play games and always kept us giggling at your antics in Guesstures and Outburst. We loved to hear you laugh. We liked to make you laugh so hard that your laughter turned into that high-pitched, squealy, hyperventilating sound. You made me laugh at myself too, and that may have been the most important kind of laughter you taught me.

I could never begin to quantify all the things you taught me. A thousand things that I do every day I learned from you—ironing a shirt, sewing a button, browning beef, scrubbing the floor. And then there is that immeasurable number of intangible things I learned from watching your life. Things like being a good friend, handling my fears with Scripture and prayer, looking for ways to serve both in the church and out of it, and being willing to apologize first.

Even after I grew up and left home, you still mothered me as much as distance would allow. Phone calls, emails, cards, letters, packages, and of course, your prayers, followed me wherever I went. I always knew that if I needed to talk to you, I only had to call and you would drop everything to listen to me. I was the shy daughter, not as quick to open up, but your genuine eagerness to know what was on my heart always encouraged me to share. And then you would say, “Oh, we’ve had such a good conversation!”

I guess it’s only when we’re older that we really start to understand all that our mothers have done for us. When I was a little girl, I didn’t think much about all those times you carted me around to doctors, dentists, piano lessons, swimming lessons, volleyball games, youth group activities, and school events. I didn’t think about the hours and hours of mundane chores—cleaning our house, preparing nutritious meals, washing my clothes, helping me with my science projects, typing my papers, and sitting up with me in the middle of the night when I was scared or sick. I didn’t realize that you were laying down your life for me, using up your energy for me, pouring your heart and soul into me.

But I understand now. And though I can’t say it to you in person this Mother’s Day, I whisper a thank you—with all of my heart.

“A woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30b)