Thanks, Moms, For Teaching Us Silent Lessons
There are 7.6 billion people on the planet and yet each one of us feels unique and special. How do we come to realize that? Because God sent us moms.
Moms show us love and tell us we’re special. But, just as importantly, they teach us silent lessons.
Here are three silent lessons I learned because my mom lived them:
1. It’s never too late, and you’re never too old.
Late in life my mother returned to a small community school in Broken Bow Oklahoma to get her GED. My sister and I were adults and she and dad were retired when she was awarded that diploma. “It’s never too late” she silently taught me.
2. You can go through hell and not be bitter or broken.
My mother endured years of abuse from her father. She also went through The Great Depression and her family survived by selling bootleg liquor from a still in the backwoods. Those two experiences alone would be enough to make anyone resentful and mean. But the only effect I saw was that mom kept plastic containers to re-use and recycle before recycling was the thing to do.
Instead of bitterness or brokenness, I saw grace and thankfulness birthed out of poverty and rejection. She silently taught me: “You can go through hell and not be bitter or broken.”
3. You can give 100% to God, your husband, your children and yourself and still have love to give.
My mother was a strong Christian, pastor’s wife, mother of two children, and she took care of herself by dealing with the effects of abuse at age 68.
In the middle of showing me how to balance different roles without sacrificing one for the other, she silently taught me: “The more you love, the more love grows”
What did your mother silently teach you and how did that impact your life?
I’ll tell you how those silent lessons made a difference in MY life:
1. I went back to school late in life. I continue to learn and can say with my mom, “it’s never too late and you’re never too old.
2.. When the doctor kept saying “We’ll be lucky if all she loses is her leg; it’s cancer,” she had silently taught me not to give up. And even after 10 surgeries and going through my own personal hell of surgery, recovery, and months in a wheelchair, my mother’s silent lesson taught me: “You can go through hell and not be bitter or let life break you.”
3. I’ve been a Christian most of my life, I have a long lasting marriage and my son is a man to be proud of (which I’m taking partial credit for J) I too have learned , “the more you love, the more love grows.”
Out of 7.6 billion people, I am unique and special. Out of 7.6 billion people, you are unique and special.
And we have our moms to thank for teaching us silent lessons