Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday, well actually it is tomorrow, kind of. Her birthday is technically February 29th, but we have to wait till next year to have a true birthday. I love my mom, but don't do enough for her. I was a bad daughter this year and did not get a card out. At least I made a phone call though! I am glad my mom is understanding and does not get upset at these faults of mine. This is just one of the many things I love about her.

I did spend quite a bit of time this morning reflecting on the things I admire most about my mom and love about her. I could go on and on about how caring she is and how self sacrificing she is and how gracious she is to me and all those who don't deserve it. She gives and gives and then gives some more. So many great qualities that I wish I can inherit from her. I wish I knew how awesome she was while I was growing up. I miss her so much!

Another trait that I most admire in my mom is her level of commitment and dedication she has to many things, but most importantly to God and to church. My mom once shared with me that when she was in nurses training at Grand View Hospital, she did not have a car and had to walk everywhere. My mom told me that she walked every Sunday morning, Sunday nights and Wednesday night prayer service, to go to church. It was about a 4-5 mile walk one way. She did this all the time, until some church people eventually picked her up and took her home. My mom would have walked though even if no one offered a ride. Why? She had a level of commitment, I don't see anymore, anywhere. She was determined to do the right thing even if it was hard. Maybe it was cause my mom grew up poor and always had to walk where she wanted to go and learned to be a dedicated person. Whatever the case, I am so proud of her. Most people I know are not like that. The littlest things get them distracted. There are excuses for everything. I am not trying to cut down anyone but just brag on my mom who is an example for us all.

Thank you mom for all you have shown me in life about how to be a committed and dedicated person. Thanks, for you have not just talked the talk but actually walked the walk! Thank you for all the wonderful things that you are and the wonderful things you do!

Happy Birthday!

Are We Rich?

Yesterday, during lunch, I asked my middle son Zephaniah a question to see what he would say. I asked him if we were rich? He quickly answered, "No." Then I went on to ask him how many blankets we have in this house. He answered with a crazy number like, 578,000. So I then asked him, how many does he really need to have? He said, one. So I told him then we must be rich. I explained to him that children in Haiti do not even have one blanket to lay on at night and how friends of ours are making blankets to send them so they don't have to sleep on the dirt. Then I asked him how many pillows we have in the house. Again, a crazy number like, 875,437. I asked him how many he sleeps with. He said, two. I asked him if he knew that there are children all over the world who do not even have one pillow for their head. I could tell he was surprised and couldn't really imagine that. I continued with this line of questioning, a little bit more. I could tell he was then getting the point. So I asked him again, "Are we rich?" This time he said, "This is like where the word rich has two meanings." "The first meaning is that you have lots of money." " The second meaning for rich is that you have enough of things."

He surprised me with his reasoning. I really liked how he answered the question. I hope that I can keep this in mind each day, as I struggle with the battle of needs vs. wants. Yes, like Zeph says, I am rich.......I have enough things! Are you rich?