Your first love, your first friend, and your first teacher. Your number one fan (even when it seems like she’s not in your corner). From afar you can see her facial expressions and hear the sound of her voice. You are convicted by the things she will disapprove of. You wait for the chance to share the things she will be proud of. You can hear her in your laugh. You can see her in your smile. She never leaves. Even when she’s gone. Every day is Mother’s Day – a chance to honor her, celebrate her and acknowledge her lesson plan.

The Bible tells us to honor our mother and father. I am always thinking of ways to honor my mother. I thought yesterday about many things I could write. Should I share funny stories? Should I talk about how beautiful and elegant she is? Or how her reputation is like the shot heard round the world? I could talk about how at one point she worked three jobs to raise three kids on her own. Or maybe I should just stick to how her intuition is uncanny. Everyone who has ever met my mother knows how intelligent and wise she is, how well put together she is, how well she cooks, and what happens when you get on her bad side. In the end, I decided to skip all of that and keep it simple. Just the way she likes it.

It wasn’t always easy. She didn’t have all of the answers. But she had one hell of a lesson plan.

I outlined it as follows.
  
Chapter 1: How To Love God & Receive His Promises
Chapter 2: How To Be A Lady
Chapter 3: Never Verbalize Everything You’re Thinking
Chapter 4: Material Things Can Be Replaced
Chapter 5: You Don’t Need Much To Have A Good Time
Chapter 6: Love People & Forgive Them – Even When They Make It Impossible
Chapter 7: Rely On Your Intuition
Chapter 8: Respect Your Elders
Chapter 9: Home Remedies – For The Mind & Body
Chapter 10: How To Survive The Impossible
Chapter 11: Independence – Being Alone Without Being Lonely
Chapter 12: How To Cook & Why I Should Do It With Love
Chapter 13: When It’s Time To Move On, It’s Time To Move On

Thanks for the lessons, mom! I was listening. Even when I wasn’t.

Your mother had a lesson plan of her own. Whether or not she followed the plan, whether you passed or failed… yesterday was the time to express our appreciation. I hope you had the chance to. May your mother be honored and loved.